Happenstance
by poeticgrace
Summary: They're not sure how it started, they only know they never want to let go. JE
1. Chapter 1

"We shouldn't be doing this," were the only words he managed to say before her lips came crashing to his. Pressed against the splintery door of the old basement bedroom, neither of them said anything as he explored her mouth. Moaning against his lips willingly, she enjoyed the sensations his fingers created as they traveled up and down her spine before coming to rest on her slender hips. Splaying her petite waistline, he struggled to pull her as tightly as he could manage to his body. Her arms snaked around his neck, pressing his lips closer to her. His chestnut hair was like spun silk beneath her perfect nails. There was something so elicit, some forbidden about their rendezvous.

"I can't believe that you're finally back in town, Kelso," a foreign voice said distantly as three men made their way into the basement. Fez collapsed onto the couch as his two friends flanked his sides in their customary lawn chairs. Falling into some mundane conversation about the cute girl they had passed on the corner, none were aware that two of their closest friends were hiding in the basement.

The risk of getting caught only made their tryst that more exciting, undeniably part of the appeal for both of them. It had started innocently enough, just a simple conversation between two friends stuck in routine relationships neither of them had clung to out of anything more than loyalty for the past three months. As he picked her up and pressed her arms over her head, apart of him wanted one of their friends to come around the corner. It would be the most exciting thing that had happened to the little Point Place clique in ages. When her legs tightened around his toned muscles, he quickly lost his train of thought.

She, on the other hand, was quite aware of the situation. In fact, she had never been so coherent in her entire life. Between kisses, she could hear the sporadic pieces of conversation float into their hidden haven of desire. Between their words, she could feel the faint tickle of his breath on her neck. Between the shallow breaths, she reveled in the strength of his hands and surprisingly toned physique. There was nothing expectant about their relationship, but it had easily become her favorite part of life.

"Oh," she gasped, louder than she had intended. He smiled sheepishly at her vocal sign of appreciation before placing two fingers over her pert lips. Licking her bottom lip cheekily, he gazed into her eyes as they listened to their friends talk about the new movie showing downtown. A few seconds later, a fourth voice joined them. This one was female, perkier than the rest but just as sarcastic and biting. With both their counterparts their, they knew that they should feel guilty, but the trail of kisses across the hollow spot of her collarbone left them breathless instead.

"Where are they at?" the female voice called. "We were all supposed to meet here like ten minutes ago. Not that dinner at the Hub is anything to look forward to, but we still had plans."

"They'll be here," Kelso responded. They could hear the distant sound of the freezer being opened and closed. "Score! Orange!" Despite being in a serious relationship and having a toddler-aged daughter, Michael Kelso was still the biggest kid at heart. It was comforting to know that no matter what else changed, he would always be the same guy at the core. It was great to have one true thing to count on in life.

A small giggle escaped past her lips as he quickly smothered her face with his mouth. "What was that?" the female voice called again. "I think I heard something coming from back there. Dude, is someone hiding back there?"

Looking between them, they visibly panicked in mutual realization that someone was going to come looking for them. "You have to get out of here," he whispered, pressing his lips to hers one last time. "Come down in a few minutes, make up some excuse. We'll meet up later." Leaning in for another kiss, her chin bumped against his as she nodded. Devouring her greedily, he finally relented and let go of her. Patting her playfully on the backside, he pressed her forward. "Go."

Moving away the tattered curtain, she scampered up the makeshift ladder and hoisted herself out the dingy basement window. Expertly popping the screen back into place, she jogged around the house toward the front door, careful to wipe any stray dirt away from her smooth skin. Readjusting her jeans, she prayed that she looked at least halfway presentable as she ran clumsily down the backstairs toward the basement.

Meanwhile, in the basement, the female voice came closer as she stalked back toward the bedroom. He raked his fingers through his hair nervously as he adjusted the cuff of his plaid shirt. "Hey," he smiled. "I didn't know you guys were here."

"You couldn't hear us?" she asked skeptically. "We've been waiting for you out there. What are you doing back here?"

"Just, ya know," he replied nervously. Leaning forward, he brushed a chaste kiss on her cheek. "So, hi."

"Hey," she replied with a smile, her voice barely above a whisper. She moved familiarly into his embrace, letting the comfort of their routine wash over her. It was undeniable that something had been off between them lately, but they still had this. As long as he held her like this, she knew that everything would be okay. Dipping her head to meet his lips, she enjoyed the brief interlude before someone catcalled behind them.

"Get a room!" Kelso teased before disappearing into the bathroom.

Both of them laughed nervously like two teenagers caught making out beneath the bleachers. Slipping her hand into his, she pulled him back toward the television, where their remaining group of friends sat, completely engrossed in an old rerun of "Bewitched." His eyes darted around the room, seeking her gaze immediately. From her spot next to him – her boyfriend, his best friend – she smiled coyly up at him. It killed him to see her with him, tucked into the crevice of his arm like they hadn't been together moments before. However, as he realized that his fingers were interlocked with his girlfriend and her best friend, he knew that his feels were contradictory and unwarranted.

"As soon as Kelso gets out of the can, let's get out of here," Hyde announced harshly. Jackie cocked her head appreciatively and nodded, her stomach growling for some greasy food from the Hub. Looking over at his girlfriend, he shoved his hands in his pockets. "Do you have any money?" Rolling her eyes, she pulled out a crisp ten and handed it over begrudgingly. She was soon rewarded with a brief kiss, his curly tendrils brushing playfully against her jaw. "Thanks, baby," he murmured before laying another kiss on her mouth. Dropping his voice to a whisper, he gave her another reward. "Love you."

"Man, I can't wait to get a corn dog," Eric told Donna, playfully pulling on the end of her long red hair. "It's all I can think about."

"All you can think about?" she asked seductively, winking as Kelso came back in. A small corner of his hot pink boxers poked through the fly of his corduroys. Donna pointed and laughed, bringing all attention to their friend. "Hot pink?"

He looked confused for a minute before looking down. A dark crimson crept across his cheeks as he rezipped his pants. "I can't believe that he's the father in this group," Eric teased. "Speaking of which, where is Brooke?"

"She's going to meet us there. Her mom agreed to watch the baby tonight so that we could have a date. It's kind of weird to think that I have to schedule a date with the mother of my child."

"It's kind of weird to think that anyone would even mother your child," Hyde taunted dryly.

"Hey, your girlfriend there wanted to marry me at one point," he reminded his friend. "We could have an entire brood of kids by now. I mean, we had sex all the time. All the time! There were a few times that we might even have thought…"

"Michael!" Jackie shrieked, reaching across her boyfriend to frog Kelso square on the shoulder. "Come on, Steven, let's go."

"Can you not tell me what do for once?"

"You should be used to it by now, man," Eric muttered as he pulled Donna toward the Vista Cruiser. The couple crawled into the front seat while Kelso and Fez piled into the back. Hyde and Jackie followed behind in the other love of Hyde's love, the El Camino.

Ten minutes later, Brooke joined the six friends at their customary table at the Hub, Point Place's only hangout for young adults. Fez was the only one without a female companion, but since his breakup with Jackie months ago, he had enjoyed the bachelor lifestyle. Scoring Jackie had done wonders for his reputation at the beauty shop, earning a string of dates from his beloved customers.

Hyde and Jackie had gotten back together only two weeks after the breakup, both of them aware that no one had ever fit quite like them. No one else could tune out Jackie's incessant bitching, and no other girl had managed to break through Hyde's stoic resolve. As for Donna and Eric, they had been together since New Year's Eve. Sometimes, she feared that it was only habit, and he worried that they had never fully let go of each other. Donna wanted to know if there was life beyond Eric Foreman and Wisconsin, but he had already seen and lived it.

"Order up," the chubby bald man yelled from behind the counter. Hyde and Donna both jumped immediately to their feet and headed to retrieve the trays together. Jackie stared listlessly out the window at the shoe store across the street, and Fez started to talk to Eric about the latest girl he'd taken out the night before. Kelso was busy arguing with Brooke about which one of them was prettiest.

"Thanks, Donna," Hyde said out of the corner of his mouth as they headed back toward the table. She looked at him sideways and smiled as he pressed his hand firmly against the small of her back. "Here you guys go."

Eric jumped on the tray, happily pulling off his plate of hot fries. Kelso handed a hot dog to Brooke before biting into Jackie's pretzel, earning a smack from Hyde. Jackie gratefully took back her snack, and the friends fell into familiar patterns of a Saturday evening in small town America. By the time everyone was done and ready to head out, Jackie was exhausted, Kelso was asleep in Brooke's arms and Fez had found "love" with a waitress.

"Are you going to stay with me?" Hyde asked Jackie as she stood up and stretched.

She shook her head as she leaned on him heavily. "I'm exhausted. I just want to sleep," she answered. "You might as well just take me home. I won't be of any use to anyone until I get my beauty sleep."

"I'll drive you home," he offered, his voice uncharacteristically warm. "We'll see you guys later." Looking over his shoulder, he threw a wry grin at Donna and disappeared out of the café.

"Are you coming over later?" Eric asked his girlfriend as she followed him outside. Fez was long gone, and Brooke was half-carrying Kelso toward her sedan.

"I'm tired, too," she said. "We'll do something in the morning, just the two of us. Maybe we can even go over to Kenosha. I hear that they're doing a reprise of Laser Floyd."

"You are the best girlfriend ever," he smiled before driving her home. With a long, lingering kiss in the driveway, both of them made their way upstairs toward their own bedrooms. Long after he had left her, Eric sat in the window looking up at the pale moonlight.

The ringing phone shook her from her sleep a half-hour after her boyfriend had left her walking in the opposite direction. Sitting up sleepily, she knew that it was him, and not her boyfriend, even before she heard his voice. "I hate seeing you with him."

"It's not a picnic for me either," she whispered. She could imagine him lying on his back, the phone tucked beneath his chin. "I hated seeing her hands all over you. I was so glad when I finally felt your skin on mine. It was so small that I bet no one even noticed. I just want you to know that I definitely felt it."

"Good," he smiled to himself. "So, when are you coming over?"

"It's your turn to come over here," she whispered into the darkness. "Please."

"No one could ever say no to you, could they?" he laughed. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

Dressing in the dark, he hurriedly climbed out the window and started for his final destination in what had proven to be a very long evening. Stopping between where two driveways met, he bent to pick a single white daisy. Clutching it in his hand, he quickly made his way up the walk. Pulling a lone silver key from the pocket of his suede jacket, he let himself through the door and headed upstairs. When he reached the top, she was there waiting in the doorway. Quickly shortening the distance between them, he lifted her effortlessly off the ground and carried her toward her bed. Lying on her back, he hovered over her body as he smiled down into her sparkling eyes.

"I missed you tonight."

"You were with me the entire time."

"Even though I was with her physically, I certainly was with you."

"And I was with you."

"What are we doing here, Jackie?"

"Eric, I think this what they call falling in love."


	2. Chapter 2

Jackie woke up the next morning feeling the way that she did most mornings after she was with Eric, both as high as she could ever get from exuberance to as low as she could ever feel from guilt. Her pink satin sheets still smelled faintly of his skin, a surprising combination of turpentine and soap. As she closed her eyes, flashes of the night before infiltrated her brain. The way his hands caressed her flat stomach, the taste of a gentle kiss on only her bottom lip, the look in his eyes as they finally came together as one – these were the thoughts that would we get her through the next day without Eric. Rolling over to gaze out the window, she couldn't believe that she felt this way about anyone, let alone the skinny nerd with affection for _Star Wars_ and the redheaded lumberjack next door.

It had been weeks since anyone had shared her bed other than Eric. When Steven wanted to be with her, she managed to convince him to keep it to his basement bedroom or the backseat of the El Camino. She felt physically ill when he was even in her bedroom alone, and the thought of him beneath her sheets in the place where she cheated with his best friend killed her. She knew that she would eventually have to deal with all the choices she had made, her future was inevitable. Some would call them mistakes, but after a night like last night, she would never consider Eric a mistake. Even if it didn't work out, she couldn't do that.

Sitting up, she drew her knees to her chin and stared at a little girl playing in the yard across the street. With her dark pigtails and shiny pink bicycle, she looked like a miniaturized version of Jackie at five or six. Sometimes she wished that life were still that simple. Maybe then, she would still have her parents, or at least her father. She'd have some sense of stability beyond herself and her friends. Maybe then, she'd have a family. Reaching for the floor, she pulled Eric's favorite grey faded hoodie over her head and wrapped the sleeves around her. Immediately, she felt safe just from being a tiny bit closer to him.

Throwing back the cotton candy pink quilt, she sunk her tiny feet into the plush carpet and headed toward her vanity. Sitting in the high-back chair, she felt like a princess taking her throne. While she had come away from the vain cheerleader of freshman year, she was still someone who sought beauty in the world. Meeting her own gaze in the mirror, Jackie dragged a brush through her long, wavy tendrils. Allowing herself to get lost for a few moments, she thought back to the first night she had ever kissed Eric.

"I'm so tired of you pushing me away, Steven!" she shouted at his retrieving back. Every time they started to get close, he would pull away. She was the one who had been reluctant to get back with him after her breakup with Fez, but he had convinced her that he was still in love with her. He promised that this time would be different, and she had believed that maybe he could finally be the man she needed him to be. She wasn't asking for much this time around, just for him to really be with her. "I can't do this anymore."

"Then don't," he spat hatefully, his boots echoing loudly through the basement as he slammed the exterior door behind him.

She could hear the faint sound of his car starting in the driveway, followed by tires squealing as he peeled out onto the street. Doubling over, she buried her face in her hands, willing the tears not to come. She had managed to keep them at bay while he was still present, but now that she was alone, the sadness consumed her. Sobs soon wracked her body, but her wails were silently muffled into her silky skin.

"J-j-jackie?" Eric stuttered from the staircase behind her. Now, she wished she had run out after him, or at least away from the Foreman house. She hated for anyone to see her cry, especially Eric. He already kept a snide, sarcastic running commentary on her life, and this would only serve as fuel to the fire. "Are you okay?"

"Go away," she ordered without looking up. Wiping the corner of her soulful eyes, she prayed that Eric wouldn't press the issue further. As she felt a familiar weight press onto the other end of the dingy couch, she knew that he wasn't about to relent any time soon. "Please, Eric, don't."

"Fine, Jackie," he muttered, "except that I can't just let you do this to yourself. When are you going to see that you deserve more than this? I'm not even going to pretend that we're friends, and since I'm one of Hyde's best friends, I probably shouldn't even say anything. But why put yourself through this? He has never been good to you, let alone good enough for you. You always put yourself with men who treat you horribly. You consider yourself a princess, Jackie. Don't you think you deserve to be treated like one?"

Looking up at him with wet eyes, Jackie was surprised at the honesty in his words. "He's all I have, Eric," she confessed. "Without Steven, I have no one. My family is all gone, Donna has you and Fez and I don't even talk these days. I don't want to be alone, and despite everything, I still love him. And despite all his faults, I have to believe that he still loves me."

"If he loved you, he would never make you feel like this," Eric pointed out. "Hyde does this all the time. That is not love. Don't you want more for yourself?"

"I want to be loved, Eric!" she shouted angrily. "I just want someone to love me. You have no idea what it's like to be alone. You have two parents that, despite their oddities, really love you. You have all these amazing friends who will stand by you no matter what. You have a devoted girlfriend in Donna. You could never understand that."

Eric shot her an incredulous look as he jumped up from the couch. Pacing the short length of the room, he stopped and looked at her. "You have no idea what my life is like, Jackie," he retorted pointedly. "I traveled halfway across the world. Do you know what that loneliness is like? While you were here with our friends – and they are _our_ friends – I was in the desert teaching children who have absolutely nothing. I didn't speak their language or share their customs. I didn't have anyone with me. You have no idea what that was like."

"You chose to leave," she argued. "I didn't choose this. This life just happened to me."

"You can't keep playing the victim," he countered. "You have to take responsibility for your life at some point. My parents have come to love you as much as they love Donna and Hyde. You are apart of this group, and you are Donna's best friend. It's okay to embrace the good things in your life. You don't have to focus on the bad. You have so much going for you."

"Oh, yeah," she deadpanned. "Like what? My sparkling personality?"

"Yes, that's part of it," he responded truthfully. "You're vivacious and funny. You are relentless in whatever you put your mind to, and you've proven that you do have a talent for television. You're beautiful, hardworking and memorable. You are strong, you are survivor."

"You think I'm beautiful?" she asked, leaning closer to him. Looking at Eric, she knew that he was wide open. For once, all their walls were down, and they were actually treating each other as friends, as equals.

"Come on, Jackie, we all know that you know that you are," he teased. "Quit trying to fish for compliments. I think I just said enough nice things to last us both awhile."

"You're a nice guy, Eric Foreman," she stated. "I've always thought that, even if I haven't given you credit. I'm sorry that I was so angry at you. I guess I just wanted someone to feel sorry for me, but now, I think I need to just stop feeling sorry for myself. Thank you for being, dare I say it, my friend."

"Sure," he said. Reaching over, he pulled her into a friendly hug. Kissing the top of her head chastely, he patted her hand reassuringly. As she started to pull away, his gaze caught hers. For the first time, he saw so much more to her. Trailing his hand through the soft hair along her cheekbone, something fluttered in his stomach. She looked up at him innocently, a curl falling over her green eye. Brushing it away with his thumb, she reached up to meet his hand. Her fingers briefly interlocked with his. The gesture was small but intimate. There was a shift only noticeable to Eric, but it was there staring him in the eyes. Leaning in, he traced his tongue over her bottom lip before pressing his mouth to hers firmly. It should have been unfamiliar and awkward, but it wasn't. In fact, he suddenly felt like that was the way it should have always been.

Coming back to the presence, Jackie couldn't believe that single kiss was nearly two months, and it had changed her life in that single second more than anything else in the past 20 years. His touch had made her feel more alive than anything she had ever experienced in her life. She had fallen in love twice before, once with Michael and then again with Steven. Still, no one had ever kissed her the way Eric did that day.

She looked at the matching silver frames that lined her dresser. At the center of everything was a photograph of the group during high school graduation. She had been the only one not to graduate with them, but they had included her in the festivities as if she had. To the left, there was a snapshot of herself with Fez on their first day together in the apartment and another with Donna posing in the driveway next to the Vista Cruiser. The other side was adorned with her only photograph of her and Steven, taken at the Valentine's Dance. Picking it up, she tried to remember what it was like to be that girl, just falling in love with him.

Placing it back on the bureau, she sauntered across the room lazily and pulled a gauzy dress out of the closet. Without even looking at it, she threw it over her head and let it fall easily over her svelte frame. Glancing in the mirror, she pulled her hair back into a messy bun without a care in the world. Remembering that moment reminded her how beautiful she was in Eric's eyes, and sometimes, that was all she needed.

She listened for a moment, trying to decipher whether Fez had ever made it home or not. When she didn't hear his usual bathroom serenade, she dialed Eric's number and prayed that he would answer. A female voice came over the line, once again reminding her that she wasn't Eric's girlfriend. That voice, her best friend, Donna was his. Quieting setting the receiver back down, she shook her head. Taking a deep breath, she decided to try again. She would just ask for her boyfriend and make plans to spend the day with him. That was the way it should be after all, shouldn't it?

"Hello?"

"Eric."

"Hey," he responded, his voice dropping slightly. He hadn't expected to hear her voice, especially after the hang-up Donna had just received. He had been ready to argue with the crank caller, so Jackie had thrown him for a loop. "What's up?"

"She's there."

"Yeah…"

"Um, is Steven there?"

"I don't know. Do you want me to go check?"

"I should know the answer to that question," she realized aloud. His soft chuckle filled her ear. "Meet me somewhere."

Without even questioning it, he immediately asked, "Where?"

"Our spot, a half hour."

"I'll be there," he whispered before she ended the call without a goodbye. Placing the phone back on the cradle, a small smile spread across his face. His temporary high came crashing back to reality when Donna called out from behind him, asking who it was. "No one," he told her automatically while he wanted to scream, _The One_. "I have to go." He left without ever hearing her reply.


	3. Chapter 3

Jackie pulled her jacket more tightly around her petite body, snuggly beneath the soft pink fleece. The sky was streaked with radiant sunlight, fluffy clouds occasionally dotting the horizon. She had been there for fifteen minutes, waiting to feel whole again. As the brown station wagon made its way up the road, stirring up dust from the gravel, she sprinted toward his makeshift parking spot. Opening his door before he could, she threw herself into his arms and clung to him for dear life. "I'm so happy to see you," she murmured into the soft cotton of his t-shirt.

"Hey," he whispered, carefully moving her back from him slightly. He needed to look into her eyes to be sure that everything was alright. "I'm here, J. It's okay."

"I have to tell him. I can't keep lying to Steven and Donna day after day. They are supposed to be our best friends. No matter the circumstances, I don't want to do this to them. Steven has really been trying lately. He keeps telling me that he doesn't want to lose me. He shouldn't have to believe in something that is never going to happen."

"Then, we will tell them," he promised. "I've been the one pushing you to break up with him. I want to be with you, Jackie. As much as I didn't want to, I fell in love with you."

Jackie stepped away from him, trailing her hand through her dark locks nervously. "You haven't exactly led by example, Eric. You're still with Donna if my memory serves me right. If you wanted to be with me so much, why haven't you broken up with her yet? Why should I risk my entire life on something that may or may not even happen?"

"You're breaking up with me before we're even together. I haven't broken up with Donna yet because I just realized how much in love with you I really am. I haven't broken up with Donna yet because I don't want to pressure you into making a decision you're not ready to make. I haven't broken up with Donna yet because you haven't been willing to talk about this. Now that you have told me how you feel, I'm ready to end things with her."

"Slow down!" she shouted, her voice oozing of frustration. "Eric, you can't just declare your love and then break up with Donna."

"Don't push me away," he insisted quietly but firmly. "I'm not going to let you do this, Jackie."

"Don't tell me what to do," she countered. "You sound just like him."

Those first few weeks of sneaking around behind their partners' backs were among the best in Eric's life. He hated hiding half his life from his best friend and girlfriend, but there was something about the way Jackie made him feel. Things with her were easy and uncomplicated. They could just be together and have fun without any kind of expectation for a future together. Each moment they spent together, he could take it for what it was without having to worry about where it was all going or what it meant. He kept his love for Donna and the excitement for Jackie.

That all changed one rainy afternoon when he had skipped out of work a half-hour early to meet her in the parking lot outside the television station. Huddled in his station wagon, he waited impatiently for her to join him during her dinner break from the show. He'd pulled into the closest parking spot but it was still a short distance from the door. By the time she made it out of the building, rain was pouring down so hard that it nearly shook his card. Holding an umbrella in her hand, Jackie didn't even bother to open it as she dashed across the lot.

Her hair was dripping when she slid into the passenger side of the Vista Cruiser. Her wet legs stuck to the leather interior as she slid around awkwardly on the seat. "Man, it's really coming down out there," she breathed with a wide smile. Eric reached over and tugged on a loose tendril, wringing droplets from the ends. He couldn't help but stare at her. Her white blouse clung to her body, revealing a black lacy bra beneath. While on other girls it would seem trashy, on Jackie the look was sultry and sensual. He couldn't keep his hands off her, but his movements were far from sexual. They were genuine and instinctive. He just wanted to touch her skin.

They hadn't slept together yet. While there had been many makeout sessions, they had always stopped before darting out onto the road of no return. Many nights, Eric had restlessly fantasized what it would be like to be with her, how her supple skin would feel beneath his touch or how she would sound as they joined together. However, her prim ways and his do-good morals had kept apart. However, as he stared into her eyes, he knew that this was going to be the night, and her next words indicated that she knew, too.

"We can't," she told him. "Not here, not now."

"I need to be with you."

"I don't want it to be like this," she asserted. "This is already so wrong, Eric. I at least want to do this one thing right. I know that I've been comfortable with kissing you, but I'm still a girl. I want a little romance."

"What time do you get off work?"

She glanced at the clock on the dashboard. "We should be done here in a couple hours. I have to pre-tape a few segments, but it shouldn't take long."

"After you get off, why don't you meet me at the little inn over on Delaware Street?" he asked. "I promise to make it a night that you will never forget."

"Donna has told me everything, Eric," she taunted. "I can pretty much guarantee you're not _that_ good in bed."

"Kelso and Hyde talk, too," he teased back. "I know that _I_ won't be disappointed."

"It won't be like that with you. You're different."

"We're different," he corrected.

"Do you remember that first night we were together?" Eric asked. "You told me that you wanted a little romance and then teased me about my sexual prowess."

"You told me that you knew I'd be good," she remembered aloud. "And then, I remember you told me that we were different than our past relationships. I didn't know it at the time, but that is the first moment I started to realize that there was more to us than this."

"I'm going to break up with her, Jackie. I have to. You were right. We have been living a lie. I know it's going to hurt them, but in the end, this might be what saves them. But even more than that, I'm worried about how this is going to hurt you. I don't care how it affects me, and in so many ways, I don't care how it affects them. You are what matters here. The moment that I told you that we were different, that's when you became the most important thing in the world to me."

"I remember something else you told me that night," she retorted. "You told me that you needed me that night. It was the first time anyone has ever really needed me before."

"I don't need you anymore."

As she lifted her gaze to his, she could literally feel her heartbreaking. "Eric."

"I don't need you anymore," he repeated, "but I think that's a good thing. It means that I want you in my life, and that matters so much more. We're not dependant on each other, J. We can live our lives with or without each other. We just choose not to."

"How is that better?"

"It's a choice that way," he explained. "That means out of everyone, you want to be with me the most."

"Okay."

"Okay what?"

"Okay," she grinned, "let's do this. Let's break up with them."

"Just like that? Now you are ready to break up with them? You don't want to agonize over this situation for weeks on end."

"Want me to change my mind?"

"I couldn't want anything less if I tried," he chuckled. "How do you want to do it?"

"I want to do it like I want to do everything when it comes to you," she answered. "I want to do it together. We went into this situation together, and I think we should come out of it the same way. They both need to see us as a couple, like two people who are going to share their lives together. It will be real to them if they see that, Eric. I don't know how we are going to do it, but I know that is what we need to do."

"They're going to hate me."

"They're going to hate us," she pointed out. "You and me – both of us."

"When do we do it?"

"Right now."

"N-now?" he stuttered. "That's moving a little fast."

"Do you really want to drag it out?" Jackie shook her head. "I don't. I was supposed to meet Donna later. Why don't you invite Steven to join us? We can tell them both then."

"Actually, they're both at my house right now. Hyde's taking a nap, and Donna is helping my mom bake some stuff for a church sale. We could do it now."

Agreeing to own up to their past transgressions, they left the secluded hideaway on the outskirts of Point Place in search of truth at the Foreman house. Jackie went around to the basement to wake Hyde while Eric headed toward the kitchen. Sneaking one last kiss in the driveway, their eyes silently promised that they would be together soon. As he came in through the sliding glass door, Eric knew he was grinning like a fool but he couldn't have cared less. This was his chance to finally be happy.

"Donna, can I talk to you for a second in the other room?" he asked, smiling apologetically at his mother. "It's important."

The bleached blonde looked at him with wide eyes, almost as if she had been caught. Following him into the living room, she perched herself in the middle of the couch. "Eric, it's okay, I know."

"You do?"

"I don't know how you figured it out. I'm sorry that I kept this from you. You have every right to be angry with me," she apologized. "I didn't mean for it to happen."

"Didn't mean for what to happen?"

"I thought you knew."

"Knew what?"

"Eric, I'm late."

"You're what?!?" two voices cried at the same time. Eric spun around to meet Jackie's shocked eyes.

"Whoa, Foreman, congratulations," Hyde laughed. "You're going to be a dad! Man, that's crazy. Maybe Jackie and I need to have one so that our kid can hang out with yours and Kelso's."

"Steven," Jackie warned, her voice wavering.

"I was just kidding, Jacks," he chuckled. "We're not having a kid."

"I didn't want one with you," she muttered under her breath.

"Y-you're late?" Eric asked. "When were you going to tell me?"

"Uh, now?"

Sinking onto the couch, he covered his face with his hands. He couldn't believe it. "How did this happen, Donna? We were careful."

"Apparently not careful enough," Jackie spat. Hyde, Donna and Eric all looked at her pointedly. "What?"

Hyde was shocked. He was the only one to make it this far without knocking a girl up. Well, there was still Fez, but come on, it was Fez. He didn't get that much action. "When did you find out, Big D?"

"Shouldn't we do this alone?" she asked Eric.

He didn't know what to say. "When did you figure this out?"

"A month ago."

"A month ago?" he asked incredulously.

"Hey, Foreman?" Hyde asked. "Can I be there when you tell Red?"


	4. Chapter 4

Jackie stood silently in the kitchen, listening to the events unfold around her. She had pretty much blanked out when Donna had revealed that she had known about the pregnancy for a month, putting her six weeks along. Mentally calculating back, she figured out that it was during the long weekend when she had been in Chicago visiting Brooke. They had decided to stop seeing each other before she left, but the weekend had taught her that she didn't want to be without Eric. Apparently, he had agreed because he had held her all night Sunday. She hadn't felt like making love, and he had been so understanding. Now, a part of her had to wonder if Donna was why.

Eric kicked his foot against the bottom of the cabinet nervously, trying to come up with the right thing to say. "Donna, how could you not tell me before this?"

"It's not like you tell me everything, Eric," she retorted. "Listen, I really don't want to do this in front of everyone. I told my dad that I'd come home to make him dinner. Why don't you come over after so that we can talk about this? And you're going to have to be quiet because he doesn't know yet."

Too confused to argue, he just nodded as she headed through the sliding door and across the driveway. A stunned Hyde looked at his best friend. "Man, Foreman, are you okay?" he asked. "Do you want me to go get you drunk or something? We could head over to that strip joint in Oshkosh."

Covering his face with his hands, Eric shook his head. "I think that I'm just going to go for a long walk," he announced to no one in particular. Grabbing his keys, he passed through the kitchen and out the front door. Finally outside, he felt like he could breathe for the first time since Donna had told him that she could be pregnant. Sitting on the edge of the top step, he looked out at the street as a man passed by pulling a small boy in a wagon. He closed his eyes, trying to imagine what they would be like as parents. His eyes flew open again when it was Jackie that appeared in his mind instead of Donna.

"I can't believe Foreman got Donna pregnant," Hyde laughed humorlessly as he retrieved a beer from the refrigerator. Flipping off the tab, he took a long sip and stared at his girlfriend over the can. "I always thought that we would end up having a baby before then. I mean, I know that Foreman is always pretty careful."

"So are we," she pointed out. While there may had been a time when she would have considered tricking Steven into marriage by getting pregnant, that was far in the past. Now, she made sure that they were extra careful. She didn't want to trap herself into a relationship with him, and even more than that, she didn't want to have to guess who the father was. "Look, I've got to go run some errands for work. I'll call you later."

"I thought we were going to spend the day together."

"Something came up at the station," she replied vaguely. "See you later."

Following the path through the living room that Eric had taken a few minutes earlier, she wasn't surprised to find him waiting for her on the stoop. Sliding down next to him, she snaked her hand under his arm and took his hand. As upset as she was, she could read the fear in her eyes. Truly loving someone meant putting your pain second. "I think we hit an unforeseen complication."

"She can't be pregnant," he muttered, turning his face up to the sky. "It's not possible. I don't want her to be pregnant. I don't want us to have a baby together. We can't do this."

"If you have to do it, Eric, you can do it," she promised. "I'm going to support you any way I can. I won't hold this against you. It's not your fault this happened anymore than it is Donna's. You are going to be a great father."

"It's not that I don't want to be a father," he admitted. "It's just that I don't want to be a father to Donna's child. I f I was going to get someone pregnant, why couldn't it be you? I was ready to commit myself completely to you, to us. I really wanted a life with you."

"Who says that we can't still have this?"

"Jackie, if she is pregnant, Red is going to make me marry her. He'd tell be that it is the responsible thing to do, and he would be right," Eric rattled. "She would need someone to help her, and I can't abandon my child. Besides, I could never ask you to be okay with this."

"Oh, trust me, I'm not," she said. "As a matter of fact, I'm pretty livid, but this isn't about me right now. This is about this child. If Donna is pregnant, that needs to be the focus of the situation. You can't make any choice just because that's what you think you should to do. You need to think about what would be best for him or her. If you're going to be miserable with Donna, don't marry her. If you truly love her, then marry her."

Just then, Kitty's car pulled into the driveway. She didn't appear to have noticed them. "Come on, we need to get out of here," he insisted, pulling her down the street. "There aren't a lot of places we can go."

"I told Steven that I had to work. He won't look for me at home. We can go there," Jackie offered. "We'll take my car. I'll drive you back over here when you need to meet her."

Without even saying anything, Eric took Jackie's car keys from her outstretched palm and jogged toward the car, eyes darting everyone to see if they were being watched. Slipping behind the wheel, he waited until they were down the street to reach for her hand again. "I hate that this is hurting you."

"Don't worry about me," she murmured.

"I wish that you would yell at me. It would be so much easier if you could just hate me right now," Eric muttered. "I don't think I could be this cool if the situation were reversed."

"I need to tell you something," she confessed. "I'm still going to break up with Steven. No matter what happens between you and Donna, it's past time that I do this. I'm not trying to put any pressure on you. I just wanted to be up front with you so that you don't feel like I'm playing games."

"I can't break up with her now, but I have to tell her the truth, too."

"I think that I need to be there, Eric. I know that's not going to be the easy route. We still need to tell them together if you decided that you want to be with me. If not, if you want to be with Donna, then you can tell her. Until you figure out what you want, I don't think that you should make any kind of confession."

"J…"

"No, Eric, please," she implored. "I'm pretty sure that you owe me at least that much."

Looking over at her as he paused at a stop sign, he fell just a little more in love with Jackie. "I'm not sure but I think I owe you everything."

Back at the Foreman house, Hyde still felt restless from the confrontation in the kitchen. There was something just not right about the situation. Grabbing another beer, he headed across the driveway toward Donna's house. After a perfunctory knock on the door, he let himself into the kitchen. "Hey."

"I wondered how long it would take one of you to come over here," Donna smiled. "I guess you lost the coin toss."

"It wasn't like that at all," he remarked. "Jackie had to go to work, so I thought that I would come over here and check on you. Do you feel better now that you've finally told him?"

"I hated hiding it from him, Hyde, but you saw how he reacted. He doesn't want to have a baby anymore than I do. I wish that I hadn't kept it from him for so long. Maybe it wouldn't have been so hard to tell him then. I really appreciate you keeping my secret for so long."

"It was never mine to tell," he reminded her. "I'd never do that to any of my friends, especially you."

"I can't believe how old we are. Even you've gotten mature."

"I blame Jackie," he joked.

"So things are good between you?" she asked, happy to have her mind on someone else for a change. As she poured the spaghetti sauce into a pan, her hand brushed over her stomach. In just a few months, her swollen belly would be in the way.

"I think so," he smiled. "I've actually be thinking about asking her to move in with me. I guess it would be more accurate to say that I would move in with her. Somehow, I don't think Red would love having two illegitimate kids living in his basement."

"Kitty would love it. She's always wanted a daughter."

"What about Laurie?"

"Oh, yeah," Hyde laughed. "How can I forget her?"

Donna shrugged. "It's good that you're thinking about getting your own place, anyhow. We might end up living in the basement if Bob and Red freak out. Kitty loves her son too much to let Red kick him out completely."

"Do you think you guys will get married?"

"I wish I could answer that, but I honestly don't know," she grimaced. "I just don't know."

Back at the apartment, Eric trudged up the steps behind Jackie. Checking the living room, he was relieved to find the place empty, Fez still missing in action. Jackie grabbed his hand led him to her bedroom. Pressing him backwards on the bed, he looked up at her expectantly. "Don't even think it, Eric," she teased, pushing her desk chair next to the bed. "We're just going to talk."

"I can't help it," he breathed. "You're just so damn beautiful."

"Lines like those are what got you in this situation in the first place."

"Please, Jackie, I won't try anything. I just want to hold you."

After a few minutes, Jackie finally relented. They talked for over an hour, covering every angle of the situation. After awhile, there questions and answers became further and further apart until the words stopped altogether. Finally, they both fell asleep. By that time, the afternoon was well on its way out and the sun was starting to set. Time had gotten away from both of them. It took a phone call to wake anyone up, and even then, it was only Eric. Rolling over, he pulled the receiver from the cradle automatically. It didn't even occur to him where he was as he answered it half asleep. "Hello?"

"Eric, what are you doing at Jackie's?"

"Donna."


	5. Chapter 5

"Donna." The name echoed over and over again in his mind, hitting him each time like a bomb explosion.

"Um, Eric, what are you doing at Jackie's?"

Panic rushed through his body as Jackie shifted next to him. Stretching her petite frame, she peeked up at him behind hooded eyes. She could read the anxiety in his absent stare. Reaching up, she took the receiver from him and tucked it under her chin.

"Hey, Donna," she greeted her cheerfully. "What's going on?"

"Why is Eric at your house?" Donna repeated.

"I found him walking alone. He was pretty distraught, and I thought he could use someone to talk to," Jackie covered. She hated lying to Donna, but at this point, what was another one? "I knew that he couldn't talk to the guys, and I'm not sure that he's ready to talk to you about everything."

"Oh," she deadpanned, not sure if she should believe her best friend. Something was off about the situation, just as it had been for weeks. "It's getting late. Eric told me that he was going to come over to talk. That's why I was calling you. I was upset that he never showed up. I guess I know why now."

"He just fell asleep watching a movie on the couch. I'm sorry that I didn't call to tell you, I should have. I just wanted to let him get rest because I knew how hard this was on both of you, Donna."

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you before, Jackie," Donna apologized. "I just thought that Eric should be the first person to know. I was too afraid to tell anyone until today. I haven't even been to the doctor." 

"Wait, Donna, you haven't been to the doctor yet?" Jackie asked incredulously. "How do you even know that you're pregnant?"

"I'm a month late, Jackie. You do the math."

"There could be another explanation," she said pointedly. "How could you do this to us?"

"To us?" Donna stuttered. "I wasn't aware that this situation was going to have any significant impact on anyone other than Eric and me. How is this any of your business?"

Jackie thought for a moment, struggling to see past the searing white anger at the forefront of her mind. "We're all in this together," Jackie ventured. "You're my best friend. Hyde is Eric's best friend. Of course this is going to affect us."

"I know, you're right," Donna muttered. "I'm sorry, I guess I'm just scared."

"I'm going to let you go. I'll drive Eric over to your house in a few minutes so that you can talk."

"Thanks, Jackie, you're a great friend," Donna replied before hanging up the phone

Jackie stared at Eric as she replaced the phone on its cradle. He was still beside her in bed, his body turned toward her. "She hasn't even been to the doctor," she murmured as she tangled her fingers through her hair. He didn't react at all as he continued to gaze at her. "Say something."

"You called him Hyde."

"What?"

"Just now, you called him Hyde," Eric said. "I've never heard you call him that."

"I did?" Jackie hadn't even realized that she had let his nickname slip past her lips. She had always called him Steven, just as Kelso had always been Michael to her. "I didn't mean to."

"Why is it that I care more about you calling him Hyde more than the possibility that I could be a father?" Eric asked with disgust, running his hands over his face. "I could be a father."

"You need to talk to her, Eric. She needs to go to the doctor. You might be worried about something that doesn't even exist," Jackie retorted. "And if she is pregnant, the baby needs to be checked out. This isn't the time to be playing guessing games."

"I'm not even mad at her," he realized. "I don't care enough to be mad at her. I just want to know if she is having my baby so I can get on with my life."

"This could be a child," she said. "This could be your life. They could be your life."

"Don't say that," he whispered. "I know you're scared, but don't say that. Even if she is pregnant, I can't stay with Donna just for this child. My plans haven't changed. I'm going to tell her the truth, regardless of the pregnancy. It's not fair to anyone if I stay with her out of a sense of duty. You were right about that."

"I don't want you to say things you don't mean, Eric," Jackie muttered, turning away from him. "You might change your mind once you find out if Donna is pregnant. I know you better than anyone. You could never turn your back on a baby."

"You're right, and I know that you would never let me," he countered. "But that doesn't mean that I have to be with her to be in my child's life. I am in love with you, Jackie, and nothing – not even my child – could ever change that. If she is pregnant, I am going to have to be a father to my baby, but I don't have to be a husband to Donna."

"We can't do this right now. You have to go talk to her."

"Stop trying to push me away!" he cried, grabbing her hand. "I can't do this without you. I need you to help me get through this. She's not the only one who is scared."

"Oh, Eric," Jackie sighed, her voice becoming inaudible. She pulled him to her, and he gathered her into his arms. Climbing into his lap, she nestled her head into the crook of his shoulder, burying her face in his soft cotton shirt. "I'm not going anywhere. I am here for you. I love you too much to not be."

"I want you to go with me over there tonight. I want to tell her now. I don't care how bad it looks. We have to be honest before this situation gets any more complicated. I don't want her to think that I am going to be something more than this."

"So, that's it? Just like that, you've made up your mind already."

"What else is there? Jackie, you know it's you. It'd be easier for everyone if it wasn't, but it is. And as much as it complicates everything, I am so glad that you are."

Fifteen minutes later, Jackie and Eric were pulling up into the Foremans' driveway. Looking across the yard, they could see the faint outline of Donna standing in the kitchen behind the sheer curtain. Slipping his hand across the seat, he squeezed Jackie's fingers in his palm. She glanced at the window and then leaned across the seat, brushing a kiss over Eric's bottom lip. "Come on."

The grass was damp and cool against Jackie's ankles as she followed Eric up the path to Donna's backdoor. She looked up at the house she had called home a couple years ago. Bob and Donna had taken her in when she had nowhere else to go. Steven had helped save her when no one else seemed to care about her. And this was how she was repaying them? She felt like the most selfish person in the world as she dropped Eric's hand to ring the doorbell. Looking at him over her shoulder, she knew that it didn't matter how she felt about herself now. It was too late to go back, and even if she could, she knew that she wouldn't. She hadn't chosen Eric, he had chosen her. They were in love.

"Hi, guys," Donna attempted brightly as she opened the door. Stepping to the side, she let them into the chrome and teal kitchen. Eric pulled out two chairs for the girls before slipping next to Jackie. Shifting his chair awkwardly, he tried to arrange it so that his knee was pressed against hers. He knew that his confident resolve would remain as long as they were still connected. "Jackie, I didn't expect you here."

Jackie looked at her best friend with a small smile. Glancing sideways at Eric, she tried to search his eyes for the right words. Instead, he cleared his throat slightly and started in for her. "We need to talk, Donna."

"I agree. That's why I asked you here."

"No, I mean, we need to talk to you."

"We? What we?"

"The same us that I let slip earlier," Jackie admitted. "This probably couldn't come at a worse time, and even as I say this, I can't believe what I'm about to do."

"Jackie and I have been seeing each other for months," Eric announced finally. "I was about to tell you that when you confessed that you were pregnant."

"You've been cheating on me?" Donna asked evenly, her voice eerily calm. In the next breath, the anger set it. "You've been cheating on me with _her_?"

"Don't talk about her that way."

"Don't you defend her to me," she shouted at Eric.

"So, what, you've chosen her over me?"

"I'd already made my choice. We both had," Eric said. "We haven't been happy for awhile, Donna, long before this baby ever came into the picture. If you are pregnant, I will be a father to my child, but I can't be with you. It wouldn't be fair to anyone if I was in love with someone else."

"And that someone else is my best friend?"

"I'm so sorry," Jackie whimpered.

"I don't care what you are. I just want you to get the hell out of my house. I can't believe you would have a fling with him."

"It's not just a fling," Jackie argued uselessly.

Eric jumped to her defense. "I'm in love with her."

"You're not in love with her. You just think you are because she's easy."

"Donna," Eric warned. "Stress isn't good for the baby."

"Don't pretend to care about my child."

"Hey, if you're pregnant, this is my baby, too. It's our child."

"Not if I have anything to say about it," she threatened. "If I am pregnant, you and your whore girlfriend aren't getting anywhere near my child."

"It doesn't have to be like this, Donna."

Donna whirled around and looked at the petite brunette. "Yes, it does, Jackie," she spat. "And you know what? You did this. You did this to us all. Does Hyde know?"

"We're going to tell him next," Eric answered.

"He's home, let's go over there and do it now. I want to watch him kick your ass, and then, I want you to watch me kick her ass."

"Stop it. Just stop it," Bob whispered as he came into the kitchen. He looked over at the two young adults he had loved like his own children. "Jackie, Eric, I think you two should go. This isn't good for Donna or the baby."

"You heard?" the redhead asked through tear-filled eyes.

"I heard everything," he murmured as he took his daughter into his arms. "It's going to be alright. You guys need to leave."

"Bob, I…"

"Not now, Eric," Bob retorted. "Not now."

Looking at Donna once more, Eric just hung his head and followed Jackie wordlessly out of the kitchen. Outside, Jackie tumbled to her knees as the sobs came uncontrollably. Curling up into a ball, she rocked herself as every emotion she felt came pouring out all at once. Eric knew that he should go to her, try to comfort her, but he was frozen in place. Cries from both Donna and Jackie rang out into the night sky, coming together in unison so that he couldn't tell where one woman's voice ended and the other's began.


	6. Chapter 6

It had been three days since either Donna or Jackie had talked to Eric, and he was starting to get worried. Bob had called last night to tell him that she had her doctor's appointment next week, but that was as much detail as he would give. He had promised to keep it a secret from the Foremans until Donna knew for sure, but Eric was still thinking about telling his parents. While he knew that Red would want to kick his ass, he couldn't help but think that his mother would be able to help somehow. She always knew what to do or at least could make him feel better. Either way, he needed someone to be on his side now, and Kitty Foreman could just be the key.

Jackie, on the other hand, was a different story entirely. She had told him that she needed a little time before leaving him outside Donna's house the night of the big reveal. He hadn't been able to comfort her in the way she deserved because he had been too caught up in his own feelings. He knew that he should have gone to her, promised her that he would make everything okay for her, but he hadn't. Everyone in the situation deserved more except Eric; he deserved exactly what he had, which was nothing at the moment.

The hardest part, besides not talking to her, was the fact that he was still lying to the rest of the group. Donna and Jackie were both notably absent from the basement. Using some excuse about being sick, Jackie had put off Hyde for now. She wasn't strong enough to tell him everything. She needed to know where she stood with Eric before telling anyone else anything. They both hated keeping the secret, but there was nothing about this situation. In fact, nothing in life seemed simple at all.

"Hey," Eric murmured as Fez let him into the apartment. To Jackie's firm opposing, Eric had finally made the short journey across town to see her. Even her roommate had bought the line that she was ill. "I just wanted to come by and visit Jackie since Donna can't. She has been out of commission for awhile, and everyone was just wondering if she is okay."

Fez shrugged nonchalantly. "I wouldn't know, Jackie barely lets me in to see her," he said with a heavy accent. "She's in her bedroom. Good luck getting in there. I have to go to work. Tell her to call me at the salon if she needs anything. I should be back later this afternoon."

"Thanks, man," Eric retorted, clapping his friend on the back. Once Fez had disappeared from the apartment, Eric stowed his jacket and keys on the kitchen table before heading for her bedroom. Without even knocking, he let himself in. He knew that giving her any indication of his arrival would cause her to shut him out. If he wanted back in her life, he was going to have to push her way in. "Hey, you."

Jackie peeled back the comforter from over her head and peered out at Eric. Her eyes were swollen and red, a clear indication of days of crying. "What are doing here?" she asked evenly. "I told you that I was sick and didn't want to see anyone. You don't have any right just barging in here like this."

"I have every right," he protested. Kicking off his Converse tennis shoes, he padded over and sat on the edge of her bed. "I have every right because I am in love with you, and I'm done letting you push me away. I should have been there for you the other night, and I wasn't. I haven't been there for you in the three days since, but I'm here for you now. I don't know if that counts for much, but it's all I got."

She watched emotionlessly as he peeled away his shirt and crawled in bed behind her. Clad in a camisole and pajama pants, she wanted to recoil from his touch but couldn't. She had missed the feeling of Eric's skin against hers. He didn't try to do anything more than hold her. Spooning her from behind, he felt her body finally relax in his arms. "Eric, you can't just come in here and think that this is going to make everything better," she whispered. "You really hurt me. I thought you were better than Steven, but you treated me just like he would. I know that I deserve more than that now, thanks to you. We can't go back."

"I don't want to go back," he promised. "I screwed up. I really screwed up. Even at my very best, I still think you deserve more than I can give you. I guess I'm just asking you to compromise yourself a tiny little bit and accept what little I can give you. I think my offer is pretty good, actually. I'm giving you my heart, and I'm offering you my life."

"We have to tell Steven," she replied, turning over so that she could look into his eyes. She was not surprised to see the tears starting to form slight tracks on his cheeks. This was life, this was real. "I want all of this done. I want to tell Steven and the rest of the guys. I don't want to lie to anyone anymore. I want to do this all the way. If I am going to be with you, I want this to be it, Eric. I don't want to have my heart broken all over again. This time hurt too damn much for me to make another recovery."

"Baby, I am so sorry," he mumbled against her hair as he brought her closer to his body. Both of them started to cry in unison as he apologized over and over again. After a few minutes, when her sobs had turned into dry heaves, he gently rocked her back and forth. Eventually, everything subsided and they had settled into a comfortable silence. "We'll tell them all today. I don't want to put it off another second."

Jackie nodded silently against his forehead, causing their noses to bump. Smiling at him coyly, she whispered the two words she had been dying to utter since he had showed up. "Kiss me," she implored, closing her eyes in anticipation. Eric happily devoured her mouth in a caress he knew that he would never forget. The slight moan against his lips indicated that she wouldn't likely forget it either. As they pulled back, her eyes found their familiar place in his. "I love you, too. You said it earlier, and I never said it back."

"You should always say it back."

"I will always say it back," she promised. "I will."

"So…what do you want to do now?" Eric asked teasingly. Jackie laughed and shook her head. "Okay, since that is out of the question, why don't you get dressed and we'll go for a walk? It looks like you haven't been out of this bed in days. You could use a little fresh air and sunshine."

"But I haven't done my laundry and I ran out of shampoo," she argued. "I won't be able to look like my beautiful and charming self. I can't go out in public like that."

"Jackie, please?"

"Okay," she relented. "Go watch television in the living room and give me a few minutes to get dressed. I'll be right out."

Eric dropped a kiss on the top of her head and pulled his discarded shirt off the living floor. Heading into the living room, he heard the quiet click of the door shutting behind him. He buttoned his shirt carefully before falling heavily onto the couch. There was no better feeling than knowing that he finally had her back. It was true what the old cliché said. His life didn't work without her in it. Just as he was about to reach for the remote to flip on the television, she came into the living room. "Wow, that was fast," he said before turning around. When his eyes met hers again, he broke out into an immediate smile. "You look incredible."

"In this?" she asked sheepishly. Dressed in faded jeans and a crisp white tank top, there was nothing trendy about her outfit. She hadn't bothered to mess too much with her hair, electing for a messy ponytail. There was no makeup or jewelry, just a sheen coat of lip gloss. "I know it's not what you're used to, but it was the best I could do on short notice."

"Jackie, seriously, you look beautiful," he praised. "I have never seen you look so perfect. If nothing else, this is just proof that you will always look absolutely gorgeous. You don't need all that other stuff. You are naturally stunning."

"I like that other stuff," she pointed out. "Maybe I don't need it, Eric, but I like it. But I'm glad that you don't think I need it. Maybe I could go a little more au natural sometimes."

"You can do whatever you want to," he assured her. "I just want you to know that you don't have to hide underneath it anymore. I see you, Jackie, I really see you. I see all of you, and I love all of you. There's no going back from this now. This is it."

"Do you promise?" she grinned, reaching down to pull him to his feet. He wrapped his arms around her body and held her tightly. "I don't want to let go of you. I just want to hold on and on and on."

"Then, don't let go," he whispered, carefully unwrapping her from his body but never letting go of her hand. "Let's go find him."

Twenty minutes later, Eric led Jackie down the stairs into the basement. They could hear the television playing as the back of Hyde's head came into sight. He was bent over, head in hands. Eric squeezed her hand one last time before letting go. Jackie went around first, surprised to see Donna sleeping at the other end. "Steven?"

"Looks like you're feeling better," he remarked without getting up. "And don't worry, Foreman, Donna is feeling fine, too. I know it's sucked to have my girlfriend avoiding me for the last few days, so it must be hard for you, too. Oh, wait, maybe not seeing as you has been hanging out with my girlfriend while yours was a pregnant mess next door."

"She told you." It wasn't a question but a statement from Eric. It was evident to everyone that Donna had told Hyde their secret. "That's why we were here. We came to tell you."

"Steven, I'm sorry," Jackie pleaded. "I wanted to tell you myself."

"Well, don't worry your pretty little head another minute," Hyde grinned. "Donna already did all your dirty work for you. You two can go back to Jacks' apartment and have a rousing round in the sack in celebration of finally ditching your clueless companions. I'm just sorry that we cramped your style for so long."

"I understand that you're pissed, man. Maybe it would make you feel better to hit me."

Hyde laughed humorlessly. "That would prove everything you ever thought about me, wouldn't it? I'm not going to hit you, not in front of Donna or Jackie. You know if I turn into that guy it will make you look better and it will be easier for you to justify all this out. I'm not going to give you that advantage. You're the one that looks bad here, Foreman. You are the one that messed all this up."

"It wasn't just him, Steven. I did this too," Jackie countered.

"Oh, I'm quite aware of who did this, Jacks," he replied. "I don't understand how you could do this to me. I loved you more than anyone. You were my friend, my girlfriend and my family all wrapped up into one. No one has ever meant more to me than you. He was my best friend. You both managed to take away everything in one swoop."

"You still have a family," Eric attempted.

"I have Donna, Kelso and Fez," Hyde shot back loudly, stirring Donna from her sleep. "And I have your parents, but I lost my girlfriend and my brother. Eventually, everyone is going to have to pick a side. Your parents are going to take your side, and Fez will, too. I'm only left with Donna and Kelso, but if it means taking just one person out of your lives, it will be worth it. You don't deserve to have them. You deserve to have nothing. Or each other, which is actually kind of the same thing."

"Steven."

"Don't Steven me, Jackie," he spat. "Eric, I will be out of your house as soon as I can find somewhere to stay. I'm sure that someone has a floor I can sleep on."

"No," Eric insisted. "I did this. I should leave until you can find somewhere to stay. I can stay with Jackie for the time being."

Jackie cringed internally at Eric's comment. It wasn't that she didn't want him to stay with her; it was just that it probably didn't help the situation. She figured he would be staying there a lot with things out in the open finally, anyhow; she just didn't think they needed to broadcast it in front of their exes.

"Fine," Hyde deadpanned. "Anything else?"

Eric looked from his best friend to his ex-girlfriend. There were no more words. They had finally used them all up. "We'll go." Threading his fingers through Jackie's, he pulled her back to the staircase. He could hear the faint muffle of Donna's cries just over the sound of his feet on the steps. When they reached the kitchen, Jackie dropped his hand and gazed at him.

"Eric, I think we made a mistake."


	7. Chapter 7

"Eric, I think we made a mistake."

The words hit him over and over again. They had made a mistake? He had just laid his entire life on the line for Jackie, and she was telling him that it had been the wrong choice. He'd alienated his best friend and the potential mother of his child because he had believed that she was in love with him. He couldn't believe that she was only now telling him that this was all in vain. "Jackie, are you kidding?" he asked carefully. "Please don't tell me you don't mean that."

"No, no, no," she insisted hurriedly, reaching up to wrap her arms around Eric's neck. Their bodies came crashing together as she pulled him toward her. "I mean, I think we made a mistake about keeping this a secret for so long. I'm sorry that I didn't listen to you before. We should have done this sooner."

Resting his chin on the top of her head, he enjoyed the feeling of her relaxed in his embrace. "What we should have done doesn't matter anymore," he murmured. "The only thing that really matters is you and me together, right here and now."

Jackie ran her leg up the pant of Eric's leg, trailing her toes along his skin. "Right here and now?" she purred. Her fingertips played coyly with the soft hairs at the nape of his neck as she danced them backward until her back rested against the kitchen counter. Biting her bottom lip seductively, she looked up at him. "I think we're all alone."

Eric could read the signals loud and clear. Lifting her by her tiny waist, he sat her on the counter and moved between her parted thighs. He leaned forward anxiously to devour her mouth, her toned legs wrapping around his torso. "Your lips take like honey," he whispered before kissing her again. Jackie moaned against his mouth as her fingers trailed up and down his arms. His hands framing her beautiful face, he could feel her heart beating against his chest.

"You're not alone, Dumbass," Red barked as he came into the kitchen from the living room. He didn't say anything as he pulled a cold beer from the fridge, discarding the cap on the counter. "This isn't your bedroom, and last time I checked, that wasn't your girlfriend. Get off the counter."

"Actually, Mr. Foreman, Eric and I are together now," she told him, her voice small and innocent. While everyone else had always been afraid of the man on some level, she had always been able to deal with him head on. He was a like a father to the group, and after her parents had disappeared, Red and Kitty had almost adopted her as one of their own. Red liked to pretend that he didn't like the loud, vicarious brunette cheerleader, but he had always held a soft spot for the girl. "I hope that you can be supportive of us."

Red rolled his eyes and grunted. "Say, Jackie, can you help Kitty in the living room? She was saying something about mixing butter yellow with burnt orange?"

"Oh, no," Jackie shook her head, sprinting toward the other room. Eric could hear her chiding his mother for a poor taste in décor.

When father and son were together alone, Red considered Eric carefully. "Eric, last time I checked, you were involved with a certain redhead next door," he began. "Now, I find you making out in my kitchen with your best friend's girlfriend. Normally, I wouldn't care what you do, but we both know this is different."

"Dad, I know what I'm doing," he replied. "Hyde and Donna both know what we're doing, too. It may have been going on for awhile, but we've told them everything. Jackie and I are going to be together."

"That girl in there has been through a lot," Red warned. "I have watched her parents go about their lives without any regard to her. I may not have been the most supportive father, but at least I stuck around. That's more than she ever had. And then your dumbass friend, Kelso, cheated on her with everyone you know, including your sister. Hyde has been the one constant in her life over the past few years, and Donna has been her best friend. Are you going to be enough to make up for what she has given up? Can you be the man she is going to need you to be? You're all Jackie has now, Eric. Do you realize that?"

Jackie's voice drifted into the room as she explained the finer points of matching linens to Kitty. Red was right. Jackie had given up a lot to be with him. She had given up the only sense of family she had known. "I love her, Dad," Eric confessed. "That's all I have. I wish I could have this grand way of explaining how I feel about her, but it really just comes down to that. I didn't expect it or ask for it, but it happened anyway. I am willing to be anything she needs me to be. I want to be her best friend and her family and her lover and her soulmate all wrapped up in one."

"Oh, Eric," Red sighed grumpily. "I don't want to hear all the emotional mumbo jumbo. I just want to know that I'm not going to see her cry again. She deserves a little happiness. Make sure you give that to her."

Eric nodded silently before his father stalked out of the room. A minute later, Kitty came into the room with a confused look on her face. "Where's Dad going?" Eric asked.

"He wants to talk to Jackie," she answered. "Eric, why does your father want to talk to that girl? What is going on? What are you not telling me?"

"I'm with Jackie now, Mom," he smiled. "We're in love."

In the living room, Red sat nervously in his favorite chair and motioned for Jackie to take a seat opposite him. "I just talked to Eric in there," he said. "I'm not the kind of man who is going to give his blessing, but I will tell you this. I know what you have been through, and I know what you are giving up to be with my son. Kitty loves Eric's friends like her own children, including you. No matter what happens with Eric, you should know that she will always be there for you."

"Thanks, Red," she said quietly, easily reading between the lines. She appreciated Red's understated way of telling her that he would be there, too. "I promise you that I truly love your son. I won't let you down."

"Um, well," Red muttered. "I'm going to go out to the garage." With a final look over his shoulder, he headed for the swinging door that would lead him through the kitchen. However, Jackie leapt up and wrapped her arms around him from behind, pressing her small face into shoulder. After a second, she could feel his body relax. Finally, clearing his throat, he pried her off him. "Jackie."

"It's okay, Mr. Foreman," she smiled. "I won't tell anyone."

"Tell anyone what?" Eric asked as he came into the room, Kitty at his heels.

"Nothing, nothing," Jackie brushed him off. As soon as he was in the room, she couldn't take her eyes off him. Just the mere sight of him made Jackie want to be with him, kiss him. "Come on, let's go for a walk or something. It's a beautiful day, and it's a waste to spend it inside."

Eric looked at his girlfriend wearily. "Alright," he replied. "I guess I'll see you guys later."

"Don't be too late," Kitty replied as she moved next to her husband. Red automatically wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her near in such a comforting way that you could tell he did it without thinking. Three decades of living together and being in love had given way to this routine. As his eyes shifted back to Jackie, he hoped that they would be as happy and familiar in thirty years.

"Hold on," he whispered to Jackie. Eric reached out and pulled his mother into a hug. Between hearing his father talk about Jackie's lack of family and seeing the obvious love between his parents, he knew that he had a lot to be thankful for. "Thank you, Mom, for everything. You have taught me more than you could ever know. Everything that I am, it's all because of you."

Kitty giggled nervously, taken aback from her son's sudden display of affection. "Thank you, Eric," she murmured, patting his hand affectionately. Red mumbled something uncomfortably while his wife moved over to the hutch behind the dining room table. She pulled out a bottle of wine from between stacks of wedding china and headed to the kitchen.

"Way to go, Eric. You drove your mother to drink," Red sneered before heading back to the kitchen.

"Yeah, like that takes a lot," he called after his father with a notable chuckle. Then, taking Jackie's hand, he pulled her out of the house and down the street. Once they were out of sight from both his parents' and Donna's houses, Eric finally started to talk. "Well, that was weird."

"It's been a weird day," Jackie agreed. "I even hugged your father. I don't think he liked it too much, but he didn't scream at me. I think that's a step in the right direction. Besides, he's going to have to get used to me because I plan on staying around for a long time."

"Good," Eric grinned, kissing her cheek sweetly. "My mom took it pretty well. She said that you would be quite a challenge for me. Little does she know, I've already won you over. I think she knows just how much I love you."

"Everyone knows now," she realized aloud. "There is nothing standing between us being together anymore."

"Nothing except a baby that isn't yours," he said, stating the obvious. "I don't know how I am supposed to feel about it, J. I mean, I've always wanted to have kids, and for a long time, that picture included Donna. Now that it doesn't, I can't help but wish that you were the one that I was going through this with."

"If Donna is pregnant, you're going to be a father," she retorted. "I know that it would be easier if this baby was mine, but it's not. We'll deal with this, whatever the outcome ends up being. I would never ask you to not be happy about a child. A baby is a blessing. You are going to be an amazing father."

Eric stopped and grabbed her wrist, wrapping her into his chest. Looking down at her, he pressed his forehead to hers and smiled against her lips. "I can't wait to have babies with you," he whispered. "I can't wait to wake up every morning with you beside me or go to bed with you in my arms. I can't wait until you are mine and I am yours forever."

"You don't have to wait for that," she replied. She had never been like this with anyone. Eric had certainly never opened his heart like that to another girl. "You're kinda stuck with me always. No matter what happens from here on out, it's you and me, kid."


	8. Chapter 8

Jackie paced nervously outside the basement door. This was the first time she had attempted to speak to Steven since the fight days earlier. After steering clear of most of their friends all week, Jackie and Eric had finally agreed that today would be the day they addressed the issues between them all. Neither of them was exactly looking forward to doing it, but like their big reveal, it needed to be done. Years of friendship were at stake, and everyone deserved at least one more shot.

"You can do this," Jackie told herself. She trailed her fingertips nervously through her long, dark hair. "The worst thing he can do is yell at you. He is going to be angry, you know that. Just go in there and get it over with."

"Get what over with?" a familiar voice murmured behind her. Jackie smiled to herself as Eric's arms snaked around her slender waist. Leaning back into him, she peered up at him over her shoulder. "Somehow, I have a feeling that I'm not supposed to be here but that you're still happy to see me."

She nodded silently and leaned further into him. She loved being with Eric like this. They had gotten to a point in their relationship where they could be together without saying much. He knew her little nuances – what different looks and sounds meant. She could read his emotions quite easily in his eyes. They were definitely in sync. "Tomorrow is the big appointment. Are you going to talk to her beforehand?"

"That's actually why I came looking for you," he explained. "I called over to the apartment, and Fez told me that you were coming here to talk to Hyde. I was hoping that I would be able to catch you before you saw him. I know we agreed to talk to Hyde and Donna, and I still think that we should. I just think that we should do this together. We are going to spend our lives together, Jackie. They need to get used to the fact that we are a couple. If we are going to stay friends with them, it's something they are going to be around."

Turning around, Jackie reached up and cupped his cheek affectionately. "Eric, put yourself in their place," she urged. "Can you imagine what it would be like if Donna had been the one to hookup with Steven behind our backs? The last thing I would want to do is see them together, especially so soon. I just don't want to make anything worse."

"I don't want him to hurt you," Eric confessed. "I know that he wouldn't do anything to you, I just don't want him to yell at you. Jackie, you have been through so much in the past few years, and somehow, you've managed to come out so strong on the other end. You have changed, and I have fallen in love with the incredible woman you have become."

"Eric Foreman," she grinned. If she hadn't already been in love with him, that would have been enough to make her fall even further. "I don't really care what happens from here on out. The only thing I care about is the life we are going to build together. I want to get this conversation over with and get through the doctor's appointment tomorrow. After that, maybe we can really start looking at what we are going to do."

"Good idea," he agreed cheerfully. "Before we go in there to talk to Hyde, there is one more thing I want to tell you. You know that I have been substitute teaching for awhile. Well, one of the teachers at the high school has decided not to come back in the fall. I have been offered the position on a permanent basis."

"That's fantastic!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck. Even as she hugged him, she thought about how different they were from when they first met. Besides the obvious, Jackie never thought she would be excited that her boyfriend was a teacher of all things. He certainly never pictured himself with the superficial beauty queen she'd been at fifteen. "I am so proud of you."

Eric pressed a quick kiss to her forehead and grabbed her hand. "Come on," he prodded, pulling her into the basement behind him. Hyde was sprawled out in his chair, legs flailed casually in front of him. Eric threw a pillow off the couch to make room for his girlfriend. Sinking beside her on the sagging sofa, he reached forward and flipped off the television. "Hyde, we need to talk to you." 

"I don't have anything to say."

"Please, Steven, just listen," Jackie implored. "Let us say what we came here to tell you, and then you don't ever have to talk to us again if you don't want to."

"That's something I can pretty much guarantee."

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea…" Jackie decided.

"Oh, really?" Hyde snapped. "Whatever gave you that idea?" 

Eric closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to muster what little patience he had left. "If you're going to be an ass to anyone, be an ass to me. You can't talk to her like that. I'm not going to let you treat Jackie like that."

Hyde rolled his eyes. "You're not going to let me?" he scoffed. "Come on, Foreman, we both know that you can't stop me from doing anything."

"Whatever, it doesn't matter," Eric shot back. "Basically, I came here to make another apology to you. We betrayed a trust and years of friendship with our lies, and that was wrong. There is nothing I can say to make that right. We may not ever be able to be friends again, I really don't know. The only thing I can really ask you is that we not put our friends in the middle. Fez and Kelso didn't do anything here, and they shouldn't be involved."

"I would never treat my friends like you treated me," Hyde said. "They can make up their own minds. They're your friends just as much as they are mine. I would never try to take that away from them."

For a moment, Jackie saw a flash of the Steven she had fallen in love with. "Thank you, I really appreciate that."

"This isn't about you, Jackie," he shot back. "If you were listening, you would have heard me say that I would never take that away from them. Kelso and Fez shouldn't have to pay for your mistakes. Hell, Donna and I shouldn't have to pay for them. Either way, they aren't involved in this."

"I think that this is as good as it is going to get," Jackie said softly to Eric. He nodded in response. As he started toward the door, Jackie lingered a few steps behind. "Steven, I hate that I made you into this person again. I truly hope someday you will be able to forgive me."

Without waiting for a response, Jackie sprinted past Eric and out of the basement. Breathless, she doubled over in the driveway as the sobs started to overtake her body. By the time Eric reached her, she had collapsed on the cement. He didn't say anything as he knelt cautiously beside her. Wrapping his arms around her huddled body, he simply began to rock her. Everything around them seemed to go silent. "I think it's my turn to be proud," he whispered into her hair. "You were so strong back there. You didn't even have to try to face him, but you stood up for yourself."

Jackie raised her tearful gaze to meet his. "I just want this to all be over," she confessed. "Let's go find Donna and tell her."

"You don't have to find me," she announced behind them. "I've heard pretty much everything, including your fight with Hyde. I was coming down the stairs to find him when you came in."

"We wanted to talk to you separately," Eric told her.

"Look, I agree with everything Hyde said. There is no way that I would ever ask Fez or Kelso to pick. It would be too hard on both of them. The only thing I want to do right now is stay as far away from you two as possible. Since I might be pregnant, that is going to be a little hard until we know for sure."

Jackie glanced at Eric sideways. He returned her remorseful look. "Okay," he said because that was all there really was to say. "I want to go to the appointment tomorrow."

"Fine, but you are coming alone. I don't want her there."

Eric agreed before Donna stalked off back toward her house. After she was gone, Jackie turned to her boyfriend and tried to read his expression. "You okay?"

"You okay?" he echoed. Jackie nodded. "Then, I'm fine. I really do think that we can get through this. You just have to have faith in us."

"We're the only thing I believe in right now," she confessed as Eric folded her back in his embrace. "I'm tired. Can you drive me home?"

A half-hour, Eric found himself back in Jackie's apartment. As he followed her up the stairs from the lobby, he enjoyed watching her do simple domestic tasks such as stopping to check her mail and straightening the wreath that hung on the door. Inside the apartment, she discarded her keys and checked the message pad for any notes from Fez. She poured him a glass of sweet tea without even asking. They kept it in the apartment all the time now that Eric was such a frequent guest. In fact, he spent more time at the apartment than he did his own house. Fez had been noticeably absent as well.

"Jackie, can I talk to you about something?" Eric called to her from the living room. He could see her in the kitchen making an impromptu snack for them. She nodded as she came in next to him with a tray of apple slices, cheese and crackers. Sitting next to him, she offered him a chunk of cheddar before settling back on her heels. "Well, as you have probably noticed, we are spending a lot of time together. I'm barely ever at home anymore because I spend most nights here."

"Eric, am I smothering you?" she asked cautiously. She had indeed noticed how much time he was spending at her apartment, and she had enjoyed it. After dating Steven for so long, she was worried that he was starting to get scared of the commitment.

"Not at all," he assured her. "I was just wondering what you would think if I was to get my own apartment. I can't live at home forever, and now that I have a job, I think it's time that I look for a place."

"I think that is a very good idea," Jackie murmured sexily, sidling up next to him. "You should look for a place with a balcony. We could sit out there at night and look at the stars. I could see you having a little apartment overlooking the park."

"I could see us having a little apartment overlooking the park."

"Eric, are you asking…?"

"I'm asking."

"Wow."

"Okay, not exactly the response I was looking for," he drawled hesitantly. "I thought that we were talking about the same thing. We're together all the time, so we might as well make it a permanent thing. I love being with you. I want to do this."

"It's just fast, Eric."

"You don't want to move in with me?" he asked, clearly surprised. Then, he looked at it from her point of view. The last thing he wanted to do was put any pressure on her. "I'm sorry, that's not fair. You're right, it is kind of fast. I just know what I want. I want this, I want a life with you. I don't want to have to kiss you goodnight and walk you to the door anymore. I want to fall asleep with you in my arms. I want all my days to begin and end with you."


	9. Chapter 9

Jackie sat alone at the Hub, watching enviously as the high school students filed in and out of the dingy hangout. As she watched them talk animatedly over baskets of fries and plastic cups of pop, she realized how much older than them she felt. Though only a few years separated them from her, those years were a time of immense change. Looking back, she could barely recognize the girl she had been then. The time of transition had been so great for her that she was almost an entirely different person.

Sure, there was still a flicker of the naïve cheerleader who had fallen in love with Michael Kelso and the hopeless romantic who had dreamed of forever with Steven Kelso. They would always be a part of her, of who she was. However, who she was now had very little in common with those former versions of herself. The old Jackie would have never done what she had. Who she was now would have never fallen in love with Eric Foreman.

Across the diner, a young couple slid into a private booth in the corner next to each other. Everything between them seemed so easy between them, as if they didn't have a worry in the world. She wished that she could be as carefree as she had once been. It would have been so easy for her to not give a damn, but it would mean denying everything that she felt. She couldn't do that, even if she wanted to. Some things were too evident, and her emotions were definitely one of them.

_You don't want to move in with me?_ His question had been so heavy, weighed down by the disappointment that had been far too evident in his eyes. It had pierced her heart as she watched him silently, carefully every emotion that was at play in his gaze. _I just know what I want. I want this, I want a life with you._ The biggest emotion that was there was love. She had wanted someone to be so open with her for so long, and here he was. Eric was offering up his heart on a platter, cut wide open so that she wouldn't have to doubt for a moment how he felt.

Eric had said the kinds of things all girls want to hear. He had told her that he didn't want to leave her each night. He had told her that he wanted to fall asleep with her in his arms. _I want all my days to begin and end with you._ He had said everything that she needed to here and everything that suddenly scared the hell out of her.

Stupidly, she had stood there silently. She had wanted to scream that this was what she wanted, but the fear had made it impossible. What if she gave into this and then he left her, too? Everyone else had disappointed her up to now, so why should she trust that Eric would be any different? He didn't have the best track record of sticking around when things got anywhere close to permanent. She couldn't risk losing someone all over again.

Gazing down at her folded hands on the table in front of her, she silently berated herself for getting in this situation. She had wanted to take things slowly, desperate to stay in control at all cost. Everything between them had just progressed so naturally that it had been hard not to fall in love with him. As much as she couldn't believe it, any girl would be lucky to have Eric Foreman love her. Still, was she willing to bet everything – including her heart – on him?

She felt his presence even before he made it known. A tinny ding of the bell over door announced his arrival, but she didn't need to look up to know that it was him. Finally, with a deep breath, she brought her eyes up to meet his. She expected to see anger or disappointment staring back at her, but neither of those was in his eyes. A wide smile played across his face as he made his way toward her. "Hey," he greeted her softly, leaning down to drop a kiss on the crown of her head. "I've been looking for you."

"You're not mad?" she asked, shocked at his joyful demeanor. "We didn't exactly leave on the best terms last night. I figured you would be furious with me. I didn't think I would hear from you for a few days."

"Just because I didn't get what I wanted right away doesn't mean that I should be upset with you," he replied. "Jackie, I just want to be with you. As long as I get that, I can have all the patience in the world. You're too important to rush this by being selfish. I'm not going to push you away now that I finally have you."

Reaching across the table, Jackie grasped his hand gratefully as he slid his fingers between hers. "You're not like any man I've ever known, Eric Foreman," she whispered. "I guess I am just used to fighting for what I want. It's kind of scary to know that I could actually have it someday when I'm ready. Thank you for respecting me enough to wait for me."

"It's about more than respect, it's about love," he corrected her. "I care about you so much, Jackie. So much, in fact, that it scares me sometimes. But I know that once I get through the fear, there is always something so amazing waiting for me on the other side. That something amazing is you. You see, I'm not waiting for you, I am waiting with you."

"This isn't going to be easy, Eric," she sighed. "I'm difficult and complicated under the best of circumstances. With Donna and this pregnancy thrown into the mix, it's going to be hard on everyone. I'm going to try my best to be the person that you need me to be."

"The only person I need you to be here is you," he promised. "I know that this isn't easy on you, and I appreciate how hard you are trying. We're going to figure out this pregnancy thing together. I'm not just making choices anymore for me; I'm making them for us. If I find out that I am going to be a father today at this appointment, then we will talk about what the next step should be for us. I just want you to know that whatever that next step is, I'm not taking it without you."

Smiling genuinely for the first time since he had come into the Hub, Jackie finally let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. "I'll be right t here by your side," she proclaimed. "When is the big appointment?"

"I have to head over in a few but I needed to make sure that we were okay first," he answered. "I knew that if we were alright I would be able to get through anything I was going to find out there."

"I don't know which I am supposed to be hoping for," she admitted. "I mean, I know that you would be an incredible father and love this child with everything that you have. But I guess if I'm really honest, it will be hard if she is pregnant. A small part of me wants to hate Donna for this happening. I don't want you to have any kids that aren't ours."

The stunning confession gave Eric an entirely new layer of his love for Jackie. He knew that admitting that had been difficult. He would likely feel the same if she was pregnant by someone else. Still, despite her own feelings, she was willing to stand by his side no matter what. He didn't really know what to say until he finally replied, "I know, me too."

Glancing down at her watch, Jackie bit her bottom lip. "You better get going. If you leave now, you'll just make her appointment." Eric nodded silently as they headed toward the alley where he had parked his car. Standing outside the battered station wagon, he wanted nothing more than to disappear into the horizon with the beautiful girl standing before him. If life were only like that, if only he were like that. "Call me when you're done."

Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulled her close to him and hugged her tightly. "I'll come by as soon as we know," he whispered into her hair. He could feel the familiar welling in his eyes as she buried her face into his chest. Dampness on his cotton shirt told him that she felt very much the same. "I'm scared, Jackie."

"This is it, Eric," she managed bravely. "You have to do this, you have to know. I know that it's not easy, but you're not going through this alone. You have your parents and your friends and me. No matter what you find out today, it's going to be fine. We'll find a way to make it work. I promise you, we can do this."

"I love you," he said softly as he leaned down to kiss her. She pressed her lips intently to his, holding on for just a moment longer than usual. "I have to go."

"I have to watch you go," she said as he slipped into the driver's side. Pushing the door shut with her hip, he reached out of the open window and grabbed her hand. "You better get going, Foreman. Your future awaits."

Those last words echoed in Eric's mind as he turned into the parking lot of the clinic where he was supposed to meet Donna. He knew that the rest of his life possibly hinged on the results of a simple test. An entire lifetime could be defined by a test that took less than a few minutes. He would find it funny if he wasn't stuck in the middle of it. As he killed the engine and climbed out of the Vista Cruiser, he vowed once more to himself to just get through this. He would figure out the rest later.

Donna sat alone in the waiting room when he finally came in the office, the icy breeze from the air conditioner hitting him all at once. "Sorry I'm late," he apologized, taking the empty seat to her left. She just nodded, her eyes focused on the blank white wall in front of her. A music magazine lay unopened in her lap, her fingers splayed over the glossy cover. After knowing her for so long, Eric thought he knew every feeling that Donna had, but he didn't recognize this one.

"Donna Pinciotti," a uniformed nurse announced through the sliding glass window. Donna sat frozen in her seat, almost as if she hadn't heard her name called. Eric glanced at her and noticed the small shift in her demeanor. She had heard the nurse. Reaching down, he took her hand in his, brushing his thumb over her wrist reassuringly.

The simple gesture stirred something in her enough to bring her back to the present. "Right here," she called hollowly. "That's me."

"If you could just follow me back, the doctor should be in to examine you shortly," the woman told her kindly. Eric glanced down at her nametag. Growing up with a mother as a nurse, he had always made an effort to pay attention to the true heroes of the medical world. Like his mother, Nurse Johanna Roberts was one of them. "Would your boyfriend like to come back with you?"

"He's not my boyfriend," Donna insisted without looking at Eric. "He can wait out here until after the exam. I would like him to be in the room when I get the results."

The nurse nodded knowingly. "If you will wait out here, I will come out and get you when it's time," she told him before guiding Donna out of sight. As the heavy door clicked shut, Eric found himself alone again. Alone, at least, until an unexpected visitor arrived.

"Eric."

Eric felt his jaw drop as his mother stood before him, her hand balled on her hip. "Mom, what are you doing here? How did you know? Who told you?"

"Someone from the clinic called to confirm the appointment. Apparently, they got the father's information mixed up with the mother's when they called," she revealed. "Why didn't you tell me, Eric?"

"I wanted to wait until I knew exactly what there was to say."

"You mean you don't even know if she is…?"

"No," he admitted, shaking his head. "And before you ask, Jackie already knows. She has known everything from the start. I haven't figured out what I am going to do, but I know that whatever we decide, Jackie is going to be apart of it."

Kitty nodded carefully, hoping that reality could live up to her son's brave reverie. "At first when they called yesterday, I thought that the nurse had to be confused, but then I thought about everything. I knew that she had only called the wrong number, not gotten the wrong name."

"Why didn't you say anything before now?"

"I thought maybe you would tell me, but when you didn't, I knew that I couldn't let you go through this alone," she replied. "You're my son. That's what parents do."

"Mr. Foreman, Donna is asking for you," the nurse called from the door. "We have the results."


	10. Chapter 10

"Mr. Foreman, did you hear me?" the nurse repeated, failing once again to elicit an answer. The young man in front of her sat frozen in the uncomfortable plastic chair, grasping desperately to the woman's hand next to him. "We have the test results. Donna is waiting for you in her room."

"Let me try," Kitty offered apologetically to the nurse. Turning to her son, she searched his eyes for some kind of signal that he could handle this alone. She had always shared a special relationship with Eric, present for all the most crucial moments of his. However, this time she knew that he would have to go it alone. For the first time, she felt like she really had to let go. "Eric, Donna needs you now. You need to go in there and be the man that I raised you to be."

His mother's words hit him immediately, breaking through the false façade he had built around himself in a matter of seconds. She was right, it was time for him to step up. Slipping his hand from Kitty's, he rubbed his palms over his face one final time in a minor effort to collect his thoughts. Then, with a deep breath, he stood up and wordlessly followed the nurse down the long hallway. The uniformed woman pointed toward the last door on the left before leaving him to return to her post behind the sliding glass window.

As he rested his hand on the cool chrome doorknob, an image of Jackie flashed through his mind. He could hear her voice in his mind, urging him to find out the answers that they both needed. The answer had the power to change both their lives, but he had to find out now. He was ready to move forward with Jackie by his side regardless of what the answer was. The only thing he had to do now was walk through that door.

"Sorry for making you wait," he declared as he slipped into the examination room. Donna sat anxiously on the table, her long legs barely covered by the thin paper gown. The doctor, a studious looking older man with a salt and pepper beard, sat on a stool, scanning a stack of charts. Eric took the only chair in the room, an exact replica of the hard plastic furniture in the waiting room. "Well?"

Donna shot him a pointed look. "What I think Eric means, Dr. Jackson, is that we are very curious to find out what the results of the test are?"

The doctor nodded earnestly before flipping through the papers on the clipboard. Running his finger along the white page, he finally seemed to find what he was looking for. "Oh, yes, here it is," he announced. "Well, I am not sure what results you were wanting, Ms. Pinciotti, but it appears that you should expect a child seven months from now."

"Seven months?" Donna sputtered. "You mean I'm…"

"You mean she's…" Eric stuttered.

"Pregnant," Dr. Jackson confirmed. "Donna is approximately eight weeks along, making her due in mid-April. There are a lot of things to consider here, and I'm sure that you two would like to take some time to discuss the options. I will leave you with some pamphlets on your choices, which do include abortion and adoption. I encourage you to make up your minds fairly soon as certain options do become limited as time goes on. In the mean time, Donna, I would encourage you to make an appointment with an obstetrician next week."

Donna nodded silently, still reeling from the unexpected news. While she knew that there was a slight chance that she was pregnant, a significant part of her had believed that the results would come back negative. "We'll decide what we are going to do soon," she replied. "Can I have a few minutes alone to change?"

"Sure, just see the nurse on your wait out," the doctor smiled. "And if this is what you want, congratulations to you both. Have a nice day."

Eric scowled at the doctor's retreating back as he left the two of them alone. "I'll just let you get dressed. My mom is out in the waiting room. I didn't know she was going. I hadn't told her anything."

"I don't want to tell her yet," Donna implored. "My dad should really hear it first. We can tell them at the same time if you want. I just don't want her to know before him. It'd just add fuel to the fire."

"I understand," Eric retorted. "I have to tell Jackie though. I know that it's not going to be easy for you, but I am going to stay with her. No matter what your decision is, Donna, I want to be clear about that. I will be the best father I can to our child, but we're not going to be together."

"Can we just talk about this later?" she begged, struggling to hold in the tears threatening to roll down her face. "I just need a little time to collect myself. I'm going to have to make a lot of choices and answer a lot of questions. I don't know how I'm going to do this."

"How we're going to do this," Eric corrected her. "Just because we're not going to be together doesn't mean you are in this alone. I will be there to help you no matter what you decide."

"And what about what you decide, Eric? This is your baby, too. What do you want?"

"I could never ask you to keep this baby if it wasn't what you wanted," he said. "But I can't imagine having my child grow up without knowing me. You know how I feel about abortion, but if it's what you decide, I will find a way to support you."

"Are you saying that you want this baby?"

Eric nodded solemnly. "If it was just up to me, that'd be the only choice I could make."

Donna crossed her hands over her stomach protectively. "Let's just talk about this later," she said again. "I'm going to get changed. I'll meet you out there." Eric nodded again, squeezing her shoulder in a sign of silent support on his way past. Without looking back, he left her alone in the tiny examination room. When she was finally alone, she let the tears come. Salty droplets rolling down her pale cheeks, she let all the emotions overwhelm her body. She was pregnant. "How did I get myself into this?"

The trip down the hall was much shorter than the long journey to the room had been for Eric. A thousand thoughts racing through his mind, he was dreading what he was about to tell his mother. As he watched her through the window in the door, he could see her aimlessly flipping through a medical journal. She would be devastated that she couldn't know first, know right away. Still, this was Donna's only request to him so far, and he couldn't deny her this for anyone, not even his mother.

"Well?" Kitty asked, standing up as he entered back into the room. She tried to find any signal of an answer in her son's face, but she found none. His gaze was completely blank, a rarity for his usually expressive eyes. "Eric, what did the doctor say?"

"Donna wants to wait until she can tell her father. She said that we can tell you all at the same time," he explained. "I'm not sure if that's the best thing for Dad. I don't want to put any stress on his heart. I'll let you make the call there, but I can't tell you anything until Bob knows, too."

"Oh," she replied, trying to keep the disappointment out of her tone. "You're probably right about your father. I'll come with you two when she tells Bob. I'll sit down and explain everything to your father. It's not going to be easy, but I think it'll be best coming from me."

Eric nodded in agreement, thankful that his mother was willing to take the hit for the greater good of his father's health. He was going to need his parents in the months to come, and putting a strain on Red's heart would only hinder the entire Foreman family. "Mom, I'm sorry," he apologized. "I want to tell you."

Kitty shook her head before wrapping her son in a hug. "It doesn't matter, Eric," she promised him. "Just like it doesn't matter what the results were. I am going to support and love you either way. Your father will, too."

For a moment, Eric let himself pretend that he was still a kid and that his parents could somehow make everything better for him. "Thanks," he whispered into her ear, hugging her tightly. "For everything, Mom, thank you."

"Excuse me," Donna said softly behind them. "Mrs. Foreman, I'm sorry that you had to come down here for nothing. I hope you'll understand why I asked Eric to wait."

"Of course, honey," Kitty retorted, patting Donna on the arm. "Your father is your family, he should be there. And I didn't come down here for nothing, I came down here for me son. Sweetie, I came down here for both of you."

The redhead smiled warmly in response. "Thank you."

Kitty nodded before glancing down at her watch. "Well, I need to get back to the hospital. I guess I will see you both tonight at home," she said. "Eric, I'll be home around dinner, just so you know." Then, with a quick hug to both, she was out the door and they were once again alone.

"So…" Eric drawled nervously. "Do you want to tell them tonight?"

"Might as well," Donna shrugged, stuffing the brochures into her purse.

"What are we telling them?"

"That we're having a baby."

"You want to keep it?"

"You were right about what you said in there. I could never…"

"I know," he assured her, thankful that she was incapable of making the choice. While Eric believed in a woman's right to choose, he knew that it was a choice he could never make. He didn't believe in abortion personally but knew that it should never be his right to take that option away from someone else. "So, tonight?"

"Yeah," she answered, her voice small and hollow. "Are you going to tell Jackie now?"

Eric nodded slowly, realizing for the first time exactly what he was going to have to tell his girlfriend. "I have to, Donna," he remarked. "She has to know. I'll swear her to secrecy until we can tell everyone else, but she's apart of this. I need her to know."

As much as Donna didn't want her former best friend to know that she was pregnant, she knew that fighting with Eric would be pointless. He was going to tell Jackie whether she liked it or not. "Fine," she relented. "Just call me whenever you get home so we can decide on a time. I'll take care of my dad."

"My mom is going to tell Red."

Donna laughed humorlessly. "That's probably a good idea. I don't think that having another heart attack would be good for anyone right now," she pointed out. "So, I guess I'll see you later."

"Yeah, I'll see you later," he replied, watching as she buttoned her coat and slung her purse over her shoulder. Just as she was about to walk outside, Eric lunged forward and grabbed her hand. Pulling her back into the office, he stood silently and looked at her. _This was the mother of his child._ He was going to be a father. They were going to have a baby. As small tears formed in the corners of his eyes, he wrapped his arms around her. "Congratulations, Donna, you're going to be one hell of a mother."


	11. Chapter 11

Eric paced silently along the sidewalk leading up to Jackie's door, trying to find the courage to knock. In all his years, he had had to do many hard things. He had left Donna the night before their wedding, knowing that he couldn't go through with it. He had said goodbye to everyone and everything he had ever known to teach in Africa. He had stood up to his father on numerous occasions. And now, he was about to tell the woman he loved more than anything that he was going to have a child with someone else.

There were no words that could ever justify the logic behind the situation. Accidents happen, and there was really nothing more that could be said. It wasn't ideal, but it was the life he had been given. Eric knew that Jackie would find a way to be supportive because she loved him. He just didn't want to put her through the pain he knew she would bury deep inside. Even more than that, he didn't want to dull the glimmer that had been so evident in her beautiful eyes lately. They were almost going to be happy.

"Eric, when are you going to come in?" Jackie called softly from the doorway. Clad in a charcoal cashmere sweater, trousers and pearls, she looked every bit a Kennedy. She was leaning against the frame, watching him with an intrigued look on her face. "I've been watching you pace out here for ten minutes. Why don't you come inside and wear a path in our carpet?"

Chuckling to himself, Eric followed Jackie into the apartment. He could read the tension in her back as she escaped to the kitchen for something to drink. "Hey, J, could come in here and sit down? We need to talk."

Jackie sat her glass down with a hollow thud. She knew exactly what those words meant, even if she wasn't quite ready to admit it to herself. Crossing the room, she stood in front of Eric and stuck out her chin defiantly. "I don't want to know yet, Eric," she told him. "Before you say anything, I need you to kiss me one last time like nothing is going to change. I know it sounds silly, but it's important to me."

He didn't say anything as he hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her flush to his body. Pressing his forehead to hers, he stared intently into her eyes. He could feel her minty breath tickling his chin as she gazed back at him. Dipping down, he captured her lips with his. Jackie turned her head in response, deepening the kiss. As her tongue escaped past his teeth, Eric kissed her like their lives depended on it. His fingers tangled in her hair and her hands spanning his waist, neither of them wanted the connection to end. Finally, completely breathless with swollen lips, they had to pull away. Still, Eric didn't let go of Jackie, who was now leaning completely into him.

"The baby's mine," he whispered. He closed his eyes just as Jackie started to nod, her cheek brushing against his. A few moments later, he felt a familiar wetness rolling down her face. Opening his eyes, he automatically reached up to brush them away. "I'm sorry."

"You're going to be a father, you have nothing to apologize for," she assured him. "I guess I already knew that before you walked in here. I won't pretend that it's easy to hear, but I'm really happy for you."

"You don't have to be brave for me," he told her. "If you need to scream or cry, do it. I don't want you to hide how you feel from me. The only way we are going to be able to get through this is with honesty."

Jackie reached for his hand and entwined their fingers together before leading him toward the sofa. "Eric, I really am happy for you," she promised. "Like I said, it's not easy, but I know that you are going to be an amazing father. I've seen you around kids, you're a natural. Through everything else that is going on, I know a small part of you is excited."

_Damn, she knows me too well_, he thought to himself. "A bigger part of me is worried about you right now," he said. "I just want you to know that this doesn't change anything about you and me. I told Donna that, too. I am going to be with you, J. I can be a father to my child and be with the woman I love. I know that it's a less than ideal family situation, but we'll find a way to make it work."

"I'm worried about a lot of things, but that is not one of them. I know that you love me," she retorted. "How's Donna taking the news? Does anyone else know?"

Eric shook his head. "My mom showed up at the appointment, but we didn't tell her. Donna wants to wait until she can tell Bob at the same time. Mom is going to tell Red. She is worried about the stress this could possibly put on his heart. I told Donna that I had to tell you first. I don't know what she thought about that, and frankly, I really don't care. Other than that, she seemed to be taking it okay by the time we left. I know that she's really scared."

"Do you want me to go with you when you tell your parents?" she asked, unsure of her place in the entire situation.

"Of course, I need you there. I promise, I am not going to make a single decision without you. Some choices aren't going to be up to me, but anything Donna gives me a vote on, I will include you. This isn't just my life anymore, it's our life."

Jackie tried to muster a smile as she looked up at Eric. As her face started to fall, she decided to just give in to her true emotion and get it over with. Once she had a nice, hard cry, she would be able to deal with everything head on. "I'm going to cry," she informed him plainly. "It's not going to be pretty, and I don't want you to feel bad. I just need to get it out before it gets any worse."

"What can I do?"

"Just hold me," she pleaded before falling into his arms. Eric gathered her into his lap, wrapping her arms around her like a blanket. She buried her face into his shirt and allowed the tears to come. Stroking her hair gently, Eric held her tightly as her body became wracked with sobs. "This isn't fair."

"I know, it wasn't supposed to be like this."

They sat like that for a long time, completely silent and folded into each other. Jackie's tears finally subsided, but she never pulled away from Eric. She clung desperately to him, trying to make sense of her life. How had she gotten here? Maybe if she had ended things with Hyde sooner, maybe if she hadn't been so scared to tell Donna, maybe if Eric had stayed in Africa… There were a million things she could have changed, each giving her a different result. Still, she would never change anything because that would mean taking away a baby from Eric. No matter how much she was hurting, she could never do that to him. She knew that he had already fallen in love with his child.

"Maybe it was supposed to be like this," she said suddenly. "I mean, we talked about ending our relationships a thousand times and always found an excuse not to. Maybe you had to stay with Donna long enough to get her pregnant. This child could be a part of your destiny."

"You're amazing, you know that?" 

"I know," she grinned. "Eric, I want us to live together."

He was stunned by her unexpected admission. "You said it was too fast."

"I was wrong. It wasn't fast enough. You're right. I've waited my entire life to realize that what I needed was right in front of me. I want to share my life with you."

"This isn't just because of the baby?"

Although it hurt, she knew that it was a fair question to ask. "No," Jackie promised. "I want to live with you. A huge part of me wanted to say yes right away, but I needed to wait until you found out about the baby. I wanted to see how I would feel and react before I gave you an answer. I still feel the same I did when you asked me the first time. I want us to get an apartment together."

"You don't have to do this. This shouldn't change how you feel about living with me."

"Are you kidding?" Jackie asked incredulously. "This changes everything, Eric. Look, I don't know what I am supposed to do here. I'm not sure how to feel or think or act. The only thing I am certain of here is that I can't lose this, us, because of something we have no control over. I want you to be a good father to this child, but I think you can do that with me in your life. I don't want Donna's pregnancy to stunt any kind of growth between us. You were right when you asked me, this is the next logical step. I don't just want to share my life with you, I want to share my home with you."

Eric gazed at her, his eyes full of wonder and amazement. "You are incredible," he murmured as he brushed his mouth over hers. Their faces were so close that each word became a caress from his lips to hers. "I can't wait to start a home with you, to start a life."

"This isn't going to be easy, but we're going to get through this together," she pledged. "I love you too much to let anything take you away from me."

"How did I get so lucky?"

"I ask myself that every day."

Bells chimed somewhere in the distance, indicating that it was now five. Kitty would be home from the hospital soon. They had planned to tell Bob around dinner. "As much as I don't want to do this, I have to head home. We're supposed to tell Bob when my mom gets home. Her shift ended at five."

"Let me just run in the other room and change," she told him. "Maybe I should take my own car over so that I can drive home. You probably should stick close to the house tonight."

Eric grimaced. "As much as I want to be with you tonight, you're probably right."

"You can head over without me if you need to talk to Donna before."

"Nah, I'll just follow you over when you leave," he said, following her into the bathroom. Sitting in the wicker armchair in the corner, he curled up and watched as she started on her hair.

"What kind of hairstyle is appropriate for telling your boyfriend's parents that he is going to have a baby with someone else?" she wondered aloud to her reflection. Running her fingers through her silky tresses, she decided that she didn't need to do much. She was already dressed fairly conservative and her hair looked fine. As she watched Eric in the mirror, anxiously wringing his hands behind her, she knew that he wanted to get this over as quickly as possible. "Okay, I'm ready."

"Huh?"

"You need this to be over so let's get over there."

He nodded solemnly before following her out of the bathroom. Helping her to shrug on her coat, he took her hand as they headed out of the apartment and back down to their cars. Standing between the Vista Cruiser and Jackie's driver side, Eric wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him like he had earlier. "It'll be over soon."

"I wish that was true, Eric, but it's just beginning."


	12. Chapter 12

Donna sat silently in the mustard yellow armchair, trying to find the right way to tell her father his worse nightmare had come true. Ever since she was a little girl, Bob had held high hopes for his only child. He had prayed numerous nights that she would become more than just someone who owned an unsuccessful electronic store in a tiny town way past its prime. Now, she was about to reveal that she was pregnant by her ex-boyfriend and likely destined to spend all her days in Point Place.

Eric sat across from her, his hands folded with Jackie's in her lap. His left leg bounced nervously as he waited for his mom to return with the tray of drinks. Red had inadvertently learned about the impromptu feeling and was commandeering his usual chair. Bob sat on the other end of the couch next to Jackie, looking between everyone confusedly. Like always, he wasn't exactly sure what was going on.

"Here's the coffee," Kitty announced as she came back into the living room. Placing the tray on the coffee table, she took her place behind Red's chair. Looking to her son nervously and then to Donna, she nodded encouragingly. "So, Donna, I believe that you have some news for us."

The tall blonde glanced at Eric, unsure if she would be the one to make the announcement or if he should. "I'm not exactly sure how to say this, so I'm just going to say it. There are no words that could ever make this right, not that I could find them if I tried. This is the hardest thing I've ever had to say."

Bob looked at his daughter with concern in his eyes. Reaching out, he squeezed her hand comfortingly. "Whatever it is, Donna, it will be okay. There is nothing you could ever tell me that could be that wrong."

"Oh, Dad, you have no idea," she sighed, taking a deep breath. "I found out today that I'm pregnant. Eric is the father. We're going to keep the baby."

"My baby is pregnant?" Bob asked. His eyes flashed with anger as he looked over Eric. "You got Donna pregnant and broke up with her for her best friend? Tell me that you're going to do the right thing and marry her, Eric. Donna has always deserved better than you, but now, I guess she's stuck with you."

Eric couldn't argue with Donna's father. She had deserved better than Eric in the last year of their relationship. However, there had been a time when he would have given Donna the world. And now, he was prepared to give his child the world. "Donna and I aren't going to get married," he informed the room. "We've already talked about it and agreed that it wouldn't be right. Even though we'll always care about each other, we haven't been in love for a long time. I'm going to stay with Jackie, but I am committed to raising this child with Donna. I am going to be the father this baby deserves."

Kitty tittered with nervous laughter. "Bob, Eric was there today when Donna found out that she was pregnant, had he will be there for every single appointment until the baby is born. Red and I will be there, too. Donna isn't going to be in this alone. She has you, and she has this family."

"Donna and I will decide what is best for her and this child. Your son made the mistake of leaving her. We get to choose what happens from here on out."

"Dad," Donna warned him.

"Bob, Donna and I will choose what happens with our child," Eric informed him. "I know that you are just looking out for your baby, but I have to do what's right for mine. Donna and I will make these decisions together as parents. No one else gets a vote."

Jackie shifted uncomfortably next to him. She didn't belong here, and Eric's last comment made that fact abundantly clear. "You've been awfully quiet, Jackie," Bob pointed out.

"I'm just here to support Eric."

"Are you really going to sit by silently while he is a father to another woman's child?" Bob asked. "And Red, what about you? You're quiet."

All eyes turned to the eldest Foreman. The usually lively man had been quiet and stoic, shaking everyone to the core. "I'm just listening to what my son has to say. I won't pretend that it's going to be easy for them, but they seem to know what they're doing. If Donna and Eric believe that they can live separate lives and raise their child together, I am going to support them. There is nothing else I can do."

Bob looked at the man that he considered to be his best friend. "Red, you know as well as I do that Donna and Eric should get married. Instead, he is just going to leave my little girl high and dry while he goes off with that floozy."

"Dad!" Donna exclaimed as Eric shouted, "Bob!" Kitty sat in stunned silence while Red covered his face with his hands. Only Jackie remained still, not showing any sign of how she felt. Donna was the first to speak up again. "Eric doesn't want to marry me. He doesn't want to be with me. I don't know how many different ways he can tell you that."

"Donna, it's not like that," Eric remarked. "We agreed that we were better off not getting married. I offered to do whatever you thought we should for the baby, but you said that the child would be better growing up with two parents who didn't resent each other."

"Just because you don't resent me doesn't mean that I don't resent you," Donna shot back. Her voice shook with unshed tears. "Look, I know what we said, but this is hard, Eric. You have to understand that. There are going to be times when you have our child and she'll be there. How do you think that makes me feel? My best friend is going to be a part time mother."

"Jackie isn't going to be a mother to our child," he promised her, turning his body to look at Donna head on. "I'll tell you as many times as you need to hear it. No one is going to take your place in the baby's life ever. It's impossible."

"She took my place in yours."

An awkward silence fell over the room. Eric felt his jaw drop open while Bob stood up. Kitty looked to Red, who simply shrugged. This time, it was Jackie who spoke up first. "Well, since everyone clearly has a place except me, why don't I just leave?" she said hotly. Eric hadn't even bothered to stick up for her. In fact, he hadn't recognized the fact that she would have a place in the baby's life as well as his. "Maybe Bob was right, maybe the two of you should just get married."

Jackie ignored Eric's desperate plea as she jumped off the sofa and ran out the sliding glass door into the driveway. Hyde and some random girl were sitting in the front seat of his still-running El Camino, making out like two kids at the Pointe. With her car trapped in the driveway, she wasn't sure what to do. Finally, she just collapsed into a heap on the edge of the yard, just out of the light from the porch. She didn't want the couple to see her if they happened to look up. She had had enough awkwardness for one night.

A few minutes passed before Bob came stalking out of the kitchen. His heavy footsteps echoed into the night air as he passed the driveway toward his house, muttering angrily the entire way. Donna and Eric soon followed him, their conversation hushed and urgent. Jackie huddled out of their line of vision while she struggled to hear what they were saying.

"Donna, listen, I know that this is hard on you, and for that, I am truly sorry," he apologized. "But no matter what you are feeling, I don't feel the same. I want to be in this baby's life, but my heart belongs with Jackie now. You and I cannot be together. I won't let it happen. And as much as I want to say that it wouldn't be fair to you or to me, the truth is that it wouldn't be fair to her. She is in love with me, and I am in love with her. I won't take that away from her for anything, not even you."

"What about our baby?"

"What are you saying?"

"What if I said that you had to choose?"

"You can't do that," he insisted. "I'll take you to court and do whatever I have to do to make sure that it doesn't happen. We weren't married, so you can't claim infidelity. I didn't make any promises about the future with you this time around. The only thing I promised is that I would be honest with you about how I felt. That's what I'm trying to do."

"Why her, Eric?" Donna cried, her voice thick with desperation. "Why now? Why couldn't you have figured this out years ago? Maybe we wouldn't be in this situation."

Eric stepped under the porch light, coming fully into Jackie's sight. "We could play that game all day long, but it wouldn't do us any good. It's too late to change anything, and given the chance, I'm not sure that I would. I regret hurting you; I wish I could take it back. Still, this all happened for a reason, and that reason is our child."

Donna paced the concrete slowly, her tennis shoes softly thudding against the driveway. Jackie heard the sound of a car door opening and shutting. "Hey, Donna, are you okay?" Hyde asked with concern. "What did Eric do now?"

"It's nothing," she answered. "Look, I'm really tired. Eric, we'll just talk about this later. I need to get some sleep. I have to work in the morning."

"Good night, Donna," Eric said sadly. Jackie gazed toward him as he watched his ex-girlfriend escape into the dark of night. A few minutes later, she heard the familiar sound of Donna's screen door slamming shut. "Listen, Hyde, you need to just stay out of what is going on with me and Donna."

"You should have thought about that before you started sleeping with my girlfriend," Hyde said snidely. "Listen, I don't really care what you do, but Donna deserves better than this."

"Like you're one to talk."

"Excuse me?"

"Look how you treated Jackie," Eric stated evenly. "You cheated on her, you talked down to her, you never would fully commit to her. Now that there is someone in her life who wants to be with her more than anything, you've finally decided that you want her. Well, guess what, it's too late! I am in love with her, and we are going to live together. We are going to start a home together and a family. It might not be the conventional thing, but it's ours. I might not be good enough for Jackie, but I'm certainly better than you. I mean, after all, she did choose me."

"Eventually, she'll see the real you," Hyde said. "She was in love with Kelso until she figured out what kind of guy he really was. Then, she moved on to me, and we all know what happened there. Hell, she even figured out Fez in due time. You'll get yours, too."

"Actually, Hyde," Jackie declared confidently, "I already see the real Eric. He's strong and confident and sexy as hell. He never doubts how he feels about me, he remembers all my favorite things and he holds me whenever we fall asleep. He is a teacher and good son and someday, he'll make a wonderful husband. He is going to be a great father to this child, just like he'll be to our kids."

"Jackie, I didn't see you there," Eric said wearily. He had wanted to chase after her earlier but a comment from his father had kept him behind in the living room. With his parents' support behind him, he figured he owed them that much. He knew that Jackie would understand once he got the chance to explain. "I'm so glad that you didn't leave."

"He was blocking my car," she grumbled, nodding toward the parked El Camino. "I guess you should thank Hyde."

"Thanks, man," Eric shouted sarcastically to Hyde's retreating back. He could hear the basement door slam as he found himself alone with Jackie again. "I'm sorry I didn't come sooner. I should have stood up for you."

"You're right, you should have," she agreed as she stood up. Eric stepped over to help her to her feet, not letting go of her hand once she was standing next to him. "Stupid jerk is still blocking me in."

"Well, I guess you'll just have to spend the night. We do have a lot to talk about anyway."

Jackie nodded thoughtfully before peering up at him. "Eric, if you want out, now is the time to do it. It'd be hard, but I could get over you. If you wait much longer, I'm not sure that I could."

"I already know that I couldn't right now," Eric said. "I'm not going anywhere. I've meant every single thing I've said. If I wanted to be with Donna, I would be with her. My life, my family, is with you now. Please say you believe me."

"I believe you."

"I don't know how we're going to do this."

Jackie shrugged as she pressed her forehead to his. "I don't know either, Eric, but I'm in this now, too. We'll figure it out together."


	13. Chapter 13

A pair of familiar voices drifted through the window, lifting through the pale grey curtains just as easily as the early autumn breeze. His words sounded so confident, as though he was fully sure for the first time in his life. Donna remembered fondly a time when such a brave reverie had been directed toward only her. Sad that those days were long gone, she padded barefoot to the window to look out over the driveway below. For her entire life, she had shared that piece of blacktop with Eric. It had been there place to run to when everything else was falling apart. They had shared their first kiss on top of his car there, their first fight over a stupid basketball game there and now, the end of their relationship there.

She watched them silently for a moment as Eric pulled Jackie to her feet. The petite brunette looked so tiny next to him. Her relationship with Eric was not the only one that had changed. For many years, Donna had felt a certain obligation to befriend Jackie. They were the only two females in a group of guys, so it was natural that they clung to each other during emotional times. The Pinciottis had been the ones to take the former cheerleader in when her parents left her alone. Over time, they had truly formed a friendship that had left them almost like sisters. Now, her best friend was in love with her boyfriend. If that wasn't tragic enough, she was having his baby.

She could hear Jackie trying to give Eric an escape, her last desperate plea to save her heart from breaking. "If you want out, now is the time to do it. It'd be hard, but I could get over you. If you wait much longer, I'm not sure that I could."

_Please get out of it_, Donna silently urged Eric. She wasn't sure whether she loved him anymore, but she didn't want to go through this alone. Sure, he had vowed to stick by her side, but she knew the truth. Jackie was the one he cared about now. _Come on, Eric, we need you._

From where she stood, Donna could make out Eric shaking his head. "I already know that I couldn't right now. I'm not going anywhere.I've meant every single thing I've said. If I wanted to be with Donna, I would be with her. My life, my family, is with you now."

She could feel her worst fears come true in that moment. _So much for sticking around_, she thought angrily. _That lasted about five minutes until you were alone with her. She's your family, what about your baby? What about me?_

Jackie responded briefly, sending a wave of comfort over Eric's face. "I don't know how we're going to do this," he confessed to Jackie, his voice thick with uncertainty.

_Maybe there's still hope, _Donna thought silently to her baby. _Maybe I can still get through to him. If I did something desperate enough, he might realize just how much we still need him_.

Hyde had been so angry after confronting Jackie and Eric in the driveway that he had immediately sent his date away. He had been looking forward to the night since he hadn't been with a girl since he broke up with Jackie. It had been his first impulse to go out and get drunk, hooking up with the first random bar skank he met. Instead, he heard her voice in his head, reminding him that they would never be able to get back together if he went back down that route. He was determined to fight for Jackie, even if she made it clear that she would never take him back. Still, as he had watched Eric talk to Donna tonight, he had seen a crack in the strong wall Jackie was struggling to put up around her relationship with Eric. If Donna and the baby needed Eric, it could jeopardize the life he was starting to build with the woman Hyde still loved.

Now, as he sat alone in his dark bedroom in the basement, he could hear the hushed exchange between his ex-girlfriend and his former best friend. Their affectionate words drifted through the screen of his small window, reaching him as he huddled on the uncomfortable cot below. He hated this house for the first time in a long time. Maybe it was time he finally left. Still, he knew that he needed this residence because it held the only chance of randomly running into Jackie. There had to be a way to get back what he had once had and taken for granted.

"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner. I should have stood up for you," Eric told her softly, his voice dripping with warm affection for his new girl.

_I should have stood up for you a million times,_ Hyde realized. There had been too many instances over the years where he had not been the man he should have when it came to Jackie. He had tried to fight for her once, though. That summer when their relationship was in limbo, as she struggled to choose between Kelso and himself, had been the hardest of his entire life. He had truly believed that if they could get through that, they could get through anything. They had broken up twice since then.

"You're right, you should have," she agreed. Her shadow cast darkness through his room and danced across his wall. Eric seemed to reach for her as his shadow soon met hers, converging their bodies into one connected image. "Stupid jerk is still blocking me in."

_Now, I'm the stupid jerk_, Hyde chastised himself. _How many times did you say that about him? How many nights did I listen to you ramble on about how much you hated Foreman? Was that all a ruse? Were you in love with him the entire time? Did you use each one of us because you couldn't have him?_ The questions were too many, the uncertainties too deep. He hated not being in control of a situation.

"Well, I guess you'll just have to spend the night. We do have a lot to talk about anyway."

Eric's last words sickened Hyde physically, doubling him over with a fierce wave of nausea. He could hear the conversation drifting away as Eric led her inside. The thought of her all night in his arms was more than enough. He couldn't give her up now. There was still hope somewhere, and he was desperate to cling onto it. He would make Jackie realize how much they needed each other. He had to make her see.

Jackie looked at her exhausted reflection in the mirror, carefully studying each feature on her face. Her eyes had bags under them, but they had never looked lively. Her lips were dry and chapped, but they had never felt so tingly. Her hair was a mess with bits of leaves in the dark tresses, but his fingers had never styled it so beautiful. Her skin was slightly tinged with dirt from sitting outside, but it had never glowed so brightly. Despite everything, she was happier than she had ever been in her life.

Reaching for the soft cotton wash cloth, she started the long process of preparing for bed. Eric was in the other room, working to prepare his bed for their first night in his house together. It had been a long day for both of them, one that she knew that neither would forget nor want to ever relive. Finding out that Eric was having a child had seemed like a mere formality because she had known all along that he was going to be a father. Since the very first moment he told her, she was sure that this was an issue they were going to have to deal with. While it was harder than she could ever imagine, she somehow managed to believe that they could get through this.

Her only regret was how it was affecting Donna. She loved the damn lumberjack like a sister, no matter what harsh words they had said to each other. This should be the happiest time of her life, but Jackie had somehow taken a part of that away. She didn't regret anything she had done, but she felt a certain amount of guilt when it came to her best friend. She wanted to be able to share this pregnancy with her the way that good friends were supposed to. Instead, she knew that she was standing on the other side of a potential custody battle. It wasn't supposed to turn out like this.

_Okay, Jackie_, she told herself,_ you have to find a way to make this world. You were a driving force in this mess, but it's time you figure out a way to fix all of it. Donna needs you now. She doesn't have a lot of women in her life. Who else is going to help her pick out the right clothes and all the cute baby accessories? She's always been a lost cause when it comes to shopping_.

If only there was a simple solution, something material or superficial that could fix what ailed the incestuous group. She hated that her love for Eric had put them in the middle of a disaster. More than anything, she hated how hard it was on Eric. If she thought she was in the middle, he really was. He was the father to this child, a baby that he already loved more than his own life. And on top of that, he had to go through it without his two best friends – Donna and Hyde. It couldn't be easy.

_Oh, Eric, I wish we had been honest sooner_, she confessed if only to her own reflection._ Maybe we would have had more time to heal before this all came out. I can't help but feel like I did this to you. You would tell me otherwise, but I know the truth. I'm going to find a way to make this right for all of us, for you. _

Jackie didn't have a plan yet, but in that moment, she knew that she had to find a way to repair the broken relationships that surrounded her. If she could just mend them, maybe she could find a way to forgive herself for her many sins. She wanted her best friend back, and she wanted to give Eric his. More importantly, she wanted to give the parents to be a way to present a united front. That child was the only thing more important than her and Eric's love.

Eric folded back the blankets on the bed and threw an extra pillow on top of the mattress. In the nearly twenty years he had lived in this bedroom, he had only ever had one girl in his bed. Now, the girl next door who he had lusted after for so long was carrying his child. He had imagined it so many times, but it had never been like this. He'd always believed that they would be married with a cute little house just down from his parents. Hyde, Kelso and Fez would be around to act like uncles to the child and even when he hated her, he knew that Jackie would be a great asset in his baby's life.

However, like most of his dreams, things didn't always work out like you plan. His love for the statuesque redhead had been replaced with even more intense adoration for the pint-sized brunette. He wanted to share his children, his life, and his family with Jackie. Even this baby, he wanted Jackie to be a part of its life. Eric would never take him or her away from Donna, but he wanted that child to know this family as well. He still wanted the child to grow up around the guys, but he wasn't sure if that was at all possible. Even the little house had been replaced with another version of home – a garden apartment.

_How did I get here?_ he wondered silently. _If I retrace my steps, would I still end up here? I almost married Donna a few years ago and we're having a baby together. I should want to be with her more than anything. Instead, I broke her heart and fell in love with her best friend. How could anyone love me after that?_

But, someone did love him. Jackie loved him more than he ever thought anyone could love him. She was determined to make the best life possible for him and with him. She never apologized for who she was, though she was beginning to seem apologetic for a few things she had done. He knew that it was hard for her to be without Donna. More than once, he had caught his girlfriend looking as though she wanted to help her best friend. This should be a time that brought them together, but it only seemed to be tearing everyone apart.

Eric hated that it was hurting Donna so intensely. He knew in the back of his mind that she would have never done this to him. Although there love was long gone, she had always been a loyal person. She would have seen their relationship through, especially after learning about the baby. Hyde was very much the same way. He was loyal to the few people who were important to him – Kelso, Fez, Donna, the Foremans and Jackie. Eric knew more than anyone how deeply he loved when he chose to love. Fighting with his best friend was the last thing he wanted to be doing right now. There was so much he wanted to tell him, so many things he needed to confide. He still needed Hyde.

_I am going to find a way to make this right_, he determined. _It's not just me anymore. I have to do this for my family – Donna, Hyde, Jackie and my baby. Donna is going to be a mother and she deserves to know for certain that I will be there. Hyde is like my brother and I can't let my anger overshadow what that means. Jackie is the woman I want to share my life with and she needs to understand where she fits in my life. And this child, most importantly my baby, I need to find a way to get back this incredible family._


	14. Chapter 14

The next morning, Donna was sitting alone at the Hub, trying to figure out the rest of her life over a cup of decaffeinated coffee and scrambled eggs. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't even noticed when a curly haired man sat down next to her. Waving his finger for the waitress, he had ordered a cup of coffee and pancakes by the time she even saw him. Hyde nodded wryly at her, acknowledging their mutual pain.

"So, I guess you heard," she sighed tiredly, trying to decipher if his look was full of distain or pity. "I'm knocked up with your best friend's baby. My best friend happens to be in love with him. And I have morning sickness, to boot. The book they gave me at the clinic keeps telling me this is the happiest time of my life. I just want to find the author of that book and kick her in the shin."

"By the time you're through with labor, you'll be ready to kill her," Hyde joked hollowly in return. His eyes were empty, barely visible behind the darkness of his trademark aviator shades. "I heard everything last night. Jackie and I got into a fight in the driveway. I could hear her talking to Foreman in the yard from the basement."

"Oh, that was a lovely conversation, wasn't it?" she deadpanned. Hyde looked at her with pure puzzlement painted across his face. "Words tend to drift when the wind is high and my window is open. I particularly enjoyed the part where they pledged to get through this together. Eric did always believe that love could get you through anything."

Hyde scoffed at the ludicrous sentiment. "You're far too realistic to ever believe that," he declared. "I guess when I look back, it's a wonder they didn't end up together sooner. They're perfect for each other. Jackie has always had such a deluded version of romanticism. She thought someday a prince would sweep her off her feet and give her everything she ever dreamt of."

"By your logic, that means that we're perfect for each other," she pointed out with a chuckle. "Up for being a daddy, Hyde? Eric's busy falling in love with your little princess."

"We're not sixteen anymore," Hyde announced darkly. "We've been through too much for either of us to ever pretend that we would work together. I'm not a father figure. I wasn't meant for the family life. The only person that ever made me believe I could be that man was Jackie, and as you so delicately pointed out, she loves someone else now."

"Do you ever think that we did this to ourselves?" she asked. "Maybe if I had fought Eric on going to Africa, we would still be together. If I had pushed him harder, maybe he would have stayed. If I had never hooked up with Randy, maybe we could have gotten back what we had."

Hyde cut into his breakfast angrily. "I try not to," he replied. "But I know that if I had never married Sam, I wouldn't have broken Jackie like I did. Even though she promised she had forgiven me, I knew that she couldn't. You can't come back from something like that. She only wanted one thing in the entire world, and I couldn't give it to her. Instead, I gave it to some random stripper I met in Vegas. She deserved better."

"She probably did, but sometimes, I think that you might have deserved better, too," Donna confessed. "Jackie was always trying to make you into something you're not. She could never just accept you for who you are. She had to change you. I think that truly loving someone means that you love them for them. That never seemed to be the case with you two."

"It wasn't like that in the beginning," he explained. "When you were in California with Kelso, I started hooking up with Jackie out of boredom. We were never meant to be anything. In time, I started to feel something for her even though I knew it would end in disaster. She had this way of making me feel like it was okay to be me. All the things that I hated about myself, she loved me because of them."

Donna looked off distantly, remembering a similar affection she had had for Eric. When everyone else told her that she could do better, she had devoted her life to him. "You don't have to defend her, you know. It's okay to be angry and hurt, Hyde. They betrayed us."

"Anger isn't good for your child," he said pointedly. "I grew up with a mother who was angry at the world. Give your baby a better life. Even if I can't stand the sight of him right now, Eric is a good man. He'll do the right thing when it comes to his kid. You're not going to have to do this alone."

"Everyone keeps telling me that, but I've never felt more alone," she muttered. "Other than my dad, I don't feel like I have anyone who is on my side. I want Eric to see how much I need him, how much we need him."

Hyde looked at his friend, wishing that he could fill the emptiness that consumed her eyes. "I know that I'm not Eric, but I am here if you need someone to be on your side," he told her. "You don't have to be alone."

Across town, Eric rolled over in his childhood bed and reached for Jackie. Spending the night with her at his parents' house had been strange to say the least, but they had managed to steal an entire evening of privacy. Now, as his hands came up empty of her body, he pushed away the exhaustion and sat up in the cool sheets. A single piece of paper, folded crisply in half, sat in the middle of her pillow. Reaching for it, he was surprised that she had made a vague excuse and headed home.

As he reached for his discarded jeans, he smelled the distinct aroma of his mother's hash browns wafting in the air. Dressing quickly, he took the stairs two at a time toward the kitchen. His father sat alone at the table, silently looking over the newspaper, while his mom worked her magic at the stove. Dropping a kiss on his mom's cheek, he poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down next to his father.

"Jackie's gone," Eric told them. "I know that you already know that she was here. This actually gives us a chance to talk about everything that happened last night. I'm sure that there are some things you would like to say to me."

Red grunted distractedly as he finished up a story on the Packers. Once he was done reading, he dropped the paper hollowly onto the table and regarded his only son. "Did you mean everything you said last night? Are you going to be there to support Donna and this child?"

Eric nodded. "I can't be with Donna anymore, but I will be there for our child. I want to do this parenting thing with her. I know it's going to be hard, but I truly think that I can balance it with my relationship with Jackie. And if I can't and I have to give up something, it won't be my baby."

Kitty stayed quiet, allowing Red to have his time to speak his mind. "You think you know what to expect," he drawled, "but you have no idea. Becoming a parent is the scariest and most rewarding thing in the world. Your entire life, you've been able to be selfish and put your needs first. As soon as that child comes, everything changes."

"Everything already has," Eric revealed. "As soon as I even knew that there was a chance she was pregnant, I was bound and determined to put my child first. And even if she hadn't been, my needs weren't my prime concern anymore. The moment I chose to fall in love with Jackie, she became more important than me. Those two are my priority."

"You've grown up a lot, son," Red commented offhand. He barely recognized his son sometimes. He had finally become a man, and even though he would never say it aloud to Eric, Red was proud of him. "Just don't screw this up. You only get one chance."

"I'm going to try," Eric vowed before downing the rest of his coffee. "Speaking of which, I need to go see Jackie. She left this morning without saying anything. I should go check on her."

Red grunted dismissively. As he watched the young man grab his keys and kiss his mother goodbye, he silently prayed that Eric would find his own way in the world. It had taken Red a long time to be able to give Kitty everything she deserved. Sometimes, he knew that it still wasn't enough. Leaving his newspaper unopened on the table, he slipped behind Kitty and pressed a kiss against the back of her neck. She looked over her shoulder unsurprised. This was the Red only she knew. "We did a good job with that one," he murmured before walking back toward the table. Kitty only nodded in response.

Fez was walking out the door when Eric arrived at the apartment. The two exchanged pleasantries before the foreigner left to find Kelso downtown. They were going to go shopping for Betsy, set on finding a Packers helmet small enough to fit the toddler's head. He let Eric into the apartment, which was eerily silent and still.

"Jackie," he called, his voice echoing in the empty living room. Walking down the hall, he checked her bedroom before heading toward the bathroom. The door was shut and the water was running. Tapping against the wall outside, he waited for her to answer. When she didn't, he propped it open just a hair. "Jackie?"

"Go away," her small voice came in response, barely audible over the steady stream of water. When he didn't reply, she shut off the faucet and tried again. "Please, Eric, just go away."

"What's going on with you?" he asked. "You told me that we were going to talk in the morning, but you left before we got a chance. What changed by the time you woke up?"

Jackie shrugged silently a few times before realizing that he couldn't see her. "I don't know," she admitted. "I just don't want to do this right now. I feel like I've had enough long, deep discussions in the past week to last a lifetime."

Her words were strained and filled with unshed tears. It pained Eric to know that she was going through this. "I thought you were fine with this. How did I not know you were in pain?"

"I didn't even know how I felt," she remarked. "I was just going through the motions, not letting it sink in. I was afraid that if I did, it would disrupt the fragile façade I had built around our relationship. How stupid am I? I actually thought I could get through this without it affecting me."

"Jackie, I just had a talk with my dad. You know what I told him?" he questioned. "I told him that even before I knew about the baby, you had become the most important thing in my world. Loving you meant putting you first. That hasn't changed."

"I can't be first if you have a child," she cried softly. "Our family will never come first because you will already have one with Donna. I don't blame you. It's just hard."

"That so-called family happens to include you, Jackie."

"No, it doesn't!" she sobbed, knowing how childish she sounded. Her muffled cries were enough to push Eric over the edge. Wordlessly, he pushed the door open and came into the room. Discarding only his shoes, he climbed into the filled tub behind Jackie and wrapped his arms around her. It was a stupid thing to do, he knew, but it came naturally to him. As soon as he heard her crying, his first reaction was to hold her immediately. Logic went out the window when it came to comforting her.

"I don't know if I am strong enough to do this, Eric. I want to be, but I don't know if I can be that girl."

Eric rested his chin on her bare shoulder as he wrapped his jean-clad legs around hers. "You're the strongest person I have ever met, Jackie. All along, you've told me that we can get through this together. Now, I'm asking you to prove it. You already know that I need you. I can't do this without you. I don't want to do this without you."

"You don't have to, Eric," she promised. "You don't have to."


	15. Chapter 15

Early the next morning, Eric crept quietly from the bed and scrawled a note to tell Jackie that he would be back soon. There was a lot going on inside his head, many of those thoughts focusing on his former love. He had lived a long life with Donna by his side, but now it was time to officially put that part behind him. Today, he was going to retrace their journey to see where they had been. Tonight, he was going to see where his life with Jackie begun.

Pulling out of the driveway, he carefully maneuvered the gold station wagon down the tree-line street. Past the old familiar buildings and houses, he navigated toward his destination. He was on a mission, had been ever since he landed in Wisconsin again a few weeks before. With his future on hold f or the moment, he needed to take a short vacation of sorts for the day. There were decisions to be made when he returned to reality, but for now, he only wanted to remember.

As he turned the corner, he caught sight of the quaint campus. Pointe Place High School appeared before him as he parked his car in the visitors' parking lot. The site of his adolescence before him, he made his way across the grassy quad and down the ouside corridor. Slipping inside the crowded school unnoticed, he headed for the first pit stop on the journey down memory lane. He paused briefly outside the auditorium, smiling as he remembered all the lazy afternoons he had spent in that room with the gang.

Heading back outside, he finally found what he was searching for. The six of them had countless lunches underneath this very tree. It was also the very place he was sitting when he realized he loved her for the first time. Slightly awkward but absolutely gorgeous, she had peaked his interest from the very first second he noticed that she changed. Over the years, as the cynical teenager turned into a witty woman, the beauty remained the same. Looking back, Eric couldn't really remember life before he was in love with Donna.

Minutes later, he was back in the car. Making his way toward another memorable location, Eric pulled out the photograph he had tucked under his seat years before. Her flame red hair framed her face perfectly, giving her this magical aura he had never seen elsewhere. Years after he had first fallen in love with her, he still couldn't deny that Donna Pinciotti was an extraordinary woman. And she was going to be the mother of his child.

Eric rolled down the window and enjoyed the feeling of the cold Wisconsin air on his face. Weaving in and out of what little traffic there was, he felt more at ease than he had in far too long. With his parents back in Point Place while he was in Africa, the concept of home had become foreign to him over the past year. Yet, as he drove down the familiar streets of his fair city, he realized that the sense of home still lived on here, even if he wasn't always there.

Slowly, he pulled the car to the elegant front doors he had been searching for. Handing the keys to a bewildered valet, he entered the grand entry of the only nice hotel in town. After stopping at the reception desk to ask for directions, he headed for the ballroom. The moment he stepped into the empty room, he was transformed to a warm spring night during the first year of their relationship. That night, he made a decision that would guide him for so long.

He could remember going to Donna's house that night with Kelso and Jackie. Her hair had still been red then, pulled back off her face in loose waves. He had wanted the night to be perfect, from the corsage to the hotel afterward. As soon as he had seen her, he was certain that no girl had ever looked as beautiful before. Her dress clinging to her body in all the right places, she looked the part of a fairytale princess. Even with dates of their own, Eric was sure that everyone's eyes, including his own, would be on Donna that night.

At the dance, he had managed to get her to dance. She had always hated dancing, but with him, somehow it wasn't so bad. In fact, she told him later that it was amazing. They had had a great night for a significant portion of the evening, enjoying each other's company. Finally, she had posed the question that had crossed both of their minds a thousand times that night and a million times before that. As their lips met, Eric felt his heart almost leap out of his chest. His heart racing, he enjoyed the feeling of her in his arms.

And then, everyone had found out about their plans for the night. He could still remember the overwhelming look of hurt and disappointment in her eyes. That single look affected everything Eric did over the next four years, forever guiding himself to make sure he never saw it again. When she posed the question once again, he lied to her. One of the few times he had ever not told her the truth, and it still bothered him years later. He told her that they weren't ready. Then, he told her the one ounce of truth he could share freely with her, hoping that it would somehow make her smile her signature smile, her eyes shining and nose wrinkled. He told her that he was falling in love with her. That night he realized that he already was.

Eric pulled out the spiral notebook he had stashed beneath the passenger seat. Wanting to look at the list but not needing it to remember the next destination on his journey of remembrance, he absently inspected his own deliberate scrawl. The Hub, site of many memories of his life Donna, was the one place he dreaded visiting the most. While he was dying for a cup of coffee, he didn't want to risk running into any of his friends. Still not ready to talk about everything to everyone fully, he silently prayed that no one would be there as he pulled into the familiar gravel parking lot. He scanned the row of cars, noting that he didn't recognize any of the vehicles.

"Foreman!" the owner cheered happily as Eric slipped in the back door. "Sorry, you just missed your friends. They were in here for breakfast earlier."

"No one else knew I was coming here, and I'd appreciate it if we could keep it that way."

"What are you hiding from your friends?"

He looked down at his feet and then peered up at the man. Only one word was needed and he knew that anyone who had ever known them as a couple would understand everything. He knew that he would comprehend the weight of the situation without any further explanation. "Donna."

The old man only nodded before asking if Eric wanted anything. After he left to retrieve a cup of coffee, Eric looked out into the dining room. The memories flooded back all at once, coming one after each other like a cruel receiving line. He could see her gossiping with Jackie or having a philosophical discussion with Hyde. He could hear her asking him to come over while her parents were away and having long talks with him late at night over coffee. Shaking his head, he tried to clear all the thoughts from his mind but they wouldn't go away. When the Hub's owner returned with the hot cup of steaming goodness, he regarded Eric casually. "Old ghosts?"

"More than you know, my friend," Eric commented as he sipped his coffee. "Do you care if I slip in next door?"

Sure, go ahead. Jake's not in yet, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

"Thanks, man. For the coffee and everything else."

"Anytime, Foreman. Come by for a meal on the house, won't ya?"

With a silent nod, Eric handed him the mug and headed for the nightclub next door. It had once been the discothèque they had frequented at 16. Its newest version was still alive and kicking, as strong as ever. As he stood in the middle fo the dim dance floor, Eric spun around in a circle to take in the view. Countless dances had been shared with her in that very spot. Many times, he had caught her staring at him from across the room, and each time, Eric felt like everything in the world was created to give him and Donna that moment.

Walking over to their usually table, he sat in his chair and laid his arm across the back of hers. Closing his eyes, he just let every emotion pulsing through his veins wash over him. Knowing that he needed to move on to the next place but not quite ready to do it, Eric just let himself feel it through. For once, he let his soul remember right along with his mind and his heart. When he finally dragged his eyes open again, he felt his life click. All of that had been in a different life and with a different woman. Although he had loved Donna for a very long time, he didn't anymore. They'd always have this past, but his heart had truly moved on.

The next stop on his journey found him outside the jewelry store along a shaded path on the other side of town. He knew that this one would be difficult as it was an especially poignant moment in the eventual downfall of their relationship. He had proposed to her after buying a ring here, partly out of wanting things not to change and partly because he truly did mean it. Even at the young age of 18, Eric had wanted to start a life with someone. Donna's heart had never been it for the right reason, and in retrospect, he could see that neither has his.

Hidden in the bottom of his dresser drawer, he had hidden the ring long after they had broken up. Their ring, the one that seemed to resurface time and time again. Even when they were apart, he had believed that ring somehow kept them forever connected. He remembered when his mother found it when he was packing to leave for Africa. It had killed him because he didn't want anyone else to see it, touch it, know that it existed. It was theirs, and no one else could ever understand.

When he went to return it, one of the most difficult choice he had ever made, he had run into her in the driveway. After he left, he decided that he couldn't part with it still. He hadn't been ready to let go of her then, not like he was now. Tucked beneath his jeans and tees, he held it close to his heart. It was he that would eventually run away from their wedding. Looking back, he now knew how much that moment had changed his life. Everything he had done in the past two years, through Africa and now the pregnancy and his life with Jackie, was made right when he was certain he could let go of her. As he vowed to return the ring, he cemented a new beginning with a single sentiment.

It had been their ring for a long time, but it wasn't anymore. He didn't want anyone else to have it for so long, but now, he didn't want it either.


	16. Chapter 16

Back at the Foreman household, Jackie was about to have a conflict of her own. This was not an inner struggle between her heart and her mind. Instead, it was a battle between the man she used to love and the woman she had become. She knew that it was hard for Steven to watch her with Eric; it had nearly killed her to see him with Sam two years ago. Still, it was time they dealt with the way things were going to be rather than cling to a past that was far behind them.

"Jackie, I've been looking for you," Hyde said softly as he came into the Foremans' living room. He set the carton he was carrying down by his feet as he sunk onto the avocado green couch.

"What do you want, Steven?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "I just wanted to see how you were doing. I know that a lot has happened, ya know, and I just wanted to make sure that everything is okay."

"I'm fine," she replied shortly. "What's going on? Are you moving out?"

Hyde nodded and shrugged again. "Nah, just cleaning."

Jackie leaned forward and picked up an old faded t-shirt. She looked at the soft cloth in her hand and thought about when this had been the most important thing in the world to her, when he had been the most important person to her in the world. "You still have your Zeppelin shirt."

"It has sentimental value. You can't get rid of some things."

"And yet, others are so easily discarded," she mumbled sarcastically.

Hyde moved down the couch to sit next to her. "I didn't discard you, Jacks," he insisted. "I was just scared, and I ran. You were on me about getting married, and I freaked out."

Jackie shot him a look. "You were so scared of marrying me that you ran to Vegas, got drunk and married a stripper. I can't believe I was so lucky to have loved you."

"Loved?"

"Yes, Steven, loved. As in the past, as in I don't anymore," she said slowly. "Do you understand that concept? I had to get over you eventually."

Hyde looked down at his hands. "I just didn't think you would move on with Foreman."

Jackie smiled to herself. "I didn't either, but I did. I have."

"You said you were going to love me forever, Jackie."

"Well, not everything lasts forever, Steven. Some promises were meant to be broken" she said wryly. "You taught me that."

Eric stood at the top of the staircase, listening to two people come to terms with the end of a relationship that has been over for a long time. He was back from his journey, knowing everything that he needed to know. Jackie tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she looked at Hyde and then her hands. "Listen, Steven, I know this is hard, and I hate what it has done to your friendship with Eric," she stated.

"This isn't about Eric!" he shouted. Jackie winced, causing Hyde to bring his tone down an octave. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell. I just don't want to lose you."

Jackie placed her hand over his. "You're not going to lose me," she said. "We will always be friends, Steven. You helped me get over Michael, you taught me so much about myself. You changed my life."

"But you're just going to walk away…"

"I'm not just walking away from anything, Steven. It's been over for a long time."

"I never thought I could lose you."

She twisted her hands in frustration. "You didn't want to marry me, but you don't want him to be with me either. So, am I just supposed to be alone? Steven, I deserve better than that."

"I could be that. I Donna and Eric could be together to raise their child."

"What if that's not what I want? What if I want to help raise this child with its father? What if I want to be with Eric?"

"You can't mean that."

"I do, Steven," she shot back. "I mean it more than anything. I love Eric. I want to marry him."

"You want to marry me?" Eric shrieked from the top of the stairs before he could stop himself. He looked down at the petite brunette and scruffy anarchist sitting on the couch. Stumbling down the stairs, he couldn't contain his excitement.

"Eric, are you okay?" Jackie cried as she pushed past Hyde.

"Did you just say you wanted to marry me?"

Jackie shook her head vehemently. "I love you, Eric."

"I love you, too," he murmured as he stood up, wrapping his arms around her waist. There, in the middle of his childhood home with his ex-best friend watching, he kissed the girl he had waited his whole life to find.

"Let's go back to my place and finish what we started upstairs," she murmured in his ear. She looked up and winked at him saucily. "We're going to go, Steven. Let me know where you're staying so I can come by and visit you."

"Yeah, right."

"Really, I wish you the best."

Hyde called out, "Jackie, wait."

"I have to go to him, Hyde," Jackie told him sadly. "I have to go to Eric, I love him."

Jackie strode boldly through the front door and shut it securely behind her. Leaning against the solid surface, she finally allowed herself the deep exhale she had been holding back all along. There were a thousand thoughts racing through her head, most notably that she had just admitted that she wanted to marry Eric. She knew that the knowledge would kill her best friend, the woman that was still very much pregnant with his child. There were a lot of things that she needed to talk to Eric about, and Donna was priority number one. More than anything, she didn't want the news to hurt her. One false step, and the baby's life could be at risk.

Eric was sitting behind the wheel of her car when she finally came back around to the driveway. He was hunched over slightly, head in his hands and completely lost in thought. When he heard the soft thud of the passenger door shutting, he looked up and seemed surprised to see her next to him. "What just happened in there?"

"I think it's called brutal honesty," she replied. "I didn't even have time to think about what I was saying. I just had to let the words come. Steven needed to know how deeply I felt for you if he was ever going to move on. Truth be told, maybe I needed to hear it, too. Now I truly know that the past is behind us."

"Well, except for Donna," he remarked offhand.

"Even that version of the past is behind us," she assured him. "This baby is the future."

"We are going to have to tell her."

"I know," Jackie retorted. "I don't know how we're going to do it, but we have to. I just don't want anything to happen to the baby. If she gets too stressed out or upset, it could have an adverse effect. I'll understand if you want to put this off until after the baby is born."

Eric shook his head. "We already tried that once and it only blew up in our faces. The most important thing is honesty, and I don't want to bring my child into the world with a web of lies. If we know that this is what we want going in, we need to tell Donna. Besides, Hyde already knows, and he won't keep this secret for long. I wish I could say that I knew how we should handle this, but I don't."

"We just need to be honest," she proclaimed. "It's really that simple. Let's go find her right now before Steven has the chance and tell her what our intentions are. I'm not saying that we need to get married right away, but I know that it's something I want to happen. I don't need her permission or even her blessing to love you, Eric. I already do. I just don't want to lie to her about a future that includes her child."

"We won't," he promised. "This is my chance to finally get things right."

_El Fin._


End file.
